Escape Speed

For a satellite in a circular orbit, the total mechanical energy is the sum of kinetic and potential energy. The total energy is given by: Where:
- is the gravitational constant,
- is the mass of the Earth,
- is the mass of the satellite,
- is the radius of the orbit.
The escape energy is equal to the kinetic energy required to overcome the gravitational pull and is equal to the negative of the potential energy. So, the total kinetic energy needed to escape from orbit is: Where is the orbital kinetic energy of the satellite. Since the satellite already has of kinetic energy, the additional energy required to escape is:
Thus, the additional kinetic energy required for the satellite to escape into outer space is .