Getting to Geostationary Orbit

These instructions are really geared towards early game designs before you have engines that can restart. This way, you design a final satellite stage with very minimal dV, a circularization stage, a GTO burn stage, and your normal LV stages for orbit.

General Advice

• Design your ship from the top down for the delta-V you need for the maneuvers
• The delta-V numbers used here are approximations from the KSC. The higher your latitude the more you will need. The closer to the equator you are, the less you will need.
• 4350 m/s Total Additional dV
  • 1850 m/s to Circularize and Change Inclination at Ap
  • 2500 m/s to enter into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
• Normal amount for orbit, recommended budget 9200-9300 m/s
• 13,650 m/s dV Total

Maneuvering guide

1. Burn due east and enter into the lowest circular orbit that you can. The goal is to get the PE on the equator, but it isn't necessary if your orbit is circular. (9300ish m/s dV)
2. At the equator (use MJ to find time to equatorial AN/DN and plan your maneuver accordingly) create a maneuver node to raise your Ap to 35,786 km. It is better to not try to change your inclination with this burn as it is more expensive. (2500ish m/s dV)
3. When you reach AP (which should be on the equator), Circularize your burn and change the inclination to 0 in the same burn. This can be done by setting up a maneuver to circularize, then a maneuver to change the inclination to 0 (after a fixed time of 0s) and then merging the two nodes with the MJ maneuver node editor. (1850ish m/s dV)
4. Fine tune the resulting orbit to get as close to an orbital period of 23h, 56m, 4.09s, 0.0 inclination and 0.0 eccentricity as possible (typically less than 200 m/s dV)
5. For final positioning, an orbital period slightly longer will cause your satellite to drift west, while a slightly shorter period will cause it to drift east.

The inclination change is combined with the circularization burn because you are traveling slower at the AP. That means it requires less dV to change the inclination than when you are close to the PE and traveling faster. (You can combine these burns using the MechJeb Maneuver Planner)