Elliptic Orbit - Flight Path Angle

Flight Path Angle

The flight path angle is the angle between the orbiting body's velocity vector (= the vector tangent to the instantaneous orbit) and the local horizontal. Under standard assumptions the flight path angle satisfies the equation:

where:

• is the specific relative angular momentum of the orbit,
• is orbital speed of orbiting body,
• is radial distance of orbiting body from central body,
• is the flight path angle