Home▸Space & Astronomy▸Bi-elliptic vs Hohmann Transfer — the Δv Crossover

Bi-elliptic vs Hohmann Transfer — the Δv Crossover

Drag a target-orbit radius ratio and watch a Hohmann ellipse and a three-burn bi-elliptic transfer race for the same trip: below roughly 11.94x the Hohmann wins, but past that ratio the longer, farther-overshooting bi-elliptic path actually needs less total delta-v — a live crossover chart shows exactly where the two curves swap places.

Space & Astronomy3DAdvanced60 FPS🔥 Fire

Details

CategorySpace & Astronomy

RenderingThree.js · WebGL

DifficultyAdvanced

Target FPS60

ControlsDrag the radius-ratio slider to change the target orbit distance; drag the intermediate-apoapsis slider to change how far the bi-elliptic transfer overshoots; Run/Pause and Reset the trajectory animation.

Orbital MechanicsHohmann TransferBi-elliptic TransferDelta-VVis-VivaAstrodynamicsThree.js

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Drag the target-orbit radius ratio and watch two competing orbital transfer strategies race for the same trip: a two-burn Hohmann ellipse and a three-burn bi-elliptic path that deliberately overshoots the target before dropping back down. Below roughly 11.94× the starting radius the Hohmann needs less total Δv; past it, the longer bi-elliptic route wins.

⚙ Under the hood

Drag a target-orbit radius ratio and watch a two-burn Hohmann ellipse race a three-burn bi-elliptic transfer that overshoots past the target before dropping back down. Below roughly 11.94x the starting radius the Hohmann needs less total delta-v; past that ratio the longer bi-elliptic path wins, with a live chart showing exactly where the two delta-v curves cross.

Orbital MechanicsHohmann TransferBi-elliptic TransferDelta-VVis-VivaAstrodynamicsThree.js

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install