Space rendezvous

A space rendezvous is a set of <a href="/facts/Orbital_maneuver/HAlEFRSJ">orbital maneuvers</a> during which two <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a>, one of which is often a <a href="/facts/Space_station/2HtaLbDH">space station</a>, arrive at the same <a href="/facts/Orbit/nD2TPySG">orbit</a> and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact). Rendezvous requires a precise match of the <a href="/facts/Orbital_elements/QCG5SI6o">orbital velocities and position vectors</a> of the two spacecraft, allowing them to remain at a constant distance through <a href="/facts/Orbital_station-keeping/tNNee2Dm">orbital station-keeping</a>. Rendezvous may or may not be followed by <a href="/facts/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacecraft/zUWc9rvu">docking or berthing</a>, procedures which bring the spacecraft into physical contact and create a link between them.
The same rendezvous technique can be used for spacecraft "landing" on natural objects with a weak gravitational field, e.g. landing on one of the <a href="/facts/Moons_of_Mars/h7Bq1RUz">Martian moons</a> would require the same matching of orbital velocities, followed by a "descent" that shares some similarities with docking.

Space rendezvous open-in-new

Space rendezvous