Rockets curve after liftoff to save fuel and reach orbit

4 articles · Updated · Boy Genius Report · May 2

After rising vertically through the thickest atmosphere, they begin a gravity turn, sometimes appearing to fly parallel to Earth as acceleration shifts from upward climb to building orbital speed.
The manoeuvre uses Earth's pull toward its centre to help accelerate the vehicle, reducing fuel use and preventing a prolonged vertical ascent that could exhaust propellant before orbit.
Orbit depends on balancing horizontal velocity with gravity; deeper-space missions then need further burns, such as translunar injection, before later using other bodies' gravity to adjust course.

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