# Can a projectile fall into a low Earth orbit?

One of the problems with space flight is the speed required to achieve orbit; 17,500 mph. One of the ways I've always thought to achieve this was to launch at a low speed to a very high altitude then let the rocket fall back to earth, being speed up by gravity until it reaches orbital velocity and begins orbiting.

Question: Are there any programmes for this by the major space agencies, or papers written about the practicality of it?

• I would guess it wouldn't save any energy. – gerrit Jul 19 '13 at 10:11
• I am lost here you realize that you dont just automatically start orbiting when you hit a magical number right? you have to have the right trajectory otherwize you just make a large crater. The escape velocity refers to the slowest possible speed where an object can escape the pull of gravity and achieve orbit any thing less and the object will return to earth with a spectacular ending. Most objects in orbit go much faster. – Chad Jul 19 '13 at 18:36
• If Kerbal Space Program is anything close to a legitimate simulator, this just wouldn't work ;) – JohnB Jul 19 '13 at 19:09

One of the major show stoppers for slow ascent to orbital heights and beyond is that "slow" by necessity means "longer time", i.e. increases the time needed to achieve this, thus increasing your overall energy output needs (in a nutshell, W = PT). While we could probably be able to achieve this, it's just not economical. It might be practical to combine a bit of both, and release the rocket off an airplane carrying it till the heights airplanes can operate, and maybe require a rocket stage less, but the total energy required will still be greater than doing it as fast as possible.