Getting to Jupiter

Getting to Jupiter is the hardest task to do on Spaceflight Simulator. It requires a large rocket to get to Jupiter. Jupiter is one of the most interesting planets to explore because of its moons. Getting to Jupiter is the next step after buying the Planets Expansion; Jupiter and its moons are in this expansion.

Rocket[]

A Jupiter rocket must at least have 3 stages to get to Jupiter. Here's a guide for how to build a Jupiter rocket: Building Jupiter rockets

Mission[]

A mission to Jupiter is very risky and it is risky as going to Venus. It requires many steps and a large rocket (if not a super-large rocket that occupies the entire building space) to get there.

Pre-launch preparations[]

Before launch, Earth and Jupiter must be aligned properly. Earth must be ahead of approximately 95 degrees from Jupiter if Jupiter was locked to the center of the map.

If the planetary alignment is correct, it's time to launch the rocket!

Launch and getting to orbit[]

See also:

After launch, start turning slowly to the side, reaching an angle of 75 degrees by the time when the altitude gets to 15 kilometers. If the boosters run out of fuel, they must be separated. If the first stage runs out of fuel, separate it and turn on the second stage engine. If it's an SSTO, separate the first stage when it reaches orbit. Continue firing the second stage engine until the trajectory wraps around the earth.

Jupiter transfer[]

After getting to orbit, click on Jupiter and click on Navigate To. A transfer window will appear with a dotted trajectory showing the nominal or 'best' trajectory to get to Jupiter. Time warp until the rocket gets to the transfer window. Fire the second stage engine until the trajectory intersects Jupiter's orbit.

Other techniques[]

Instead of a direct Jupiter transfer, your rocket could instead use Earth, Mars and/or Venus gravity assists to save fuel, but increase mission time. The position of these assists must be correct to get to Jupiter efficiently.

Arriving at Jupiter[]

After 600 days, here we are at... Jupiter. Time warp until the rocket gets to the perijove (closest point to Jupiter), then fire the second stage engine to get to Jupiter orbit. If the second stage runs out of fuel, dispose of it and fire the third stage engine until you get to a Jupiter orbit. The height of the Jupiter orbit depends what mission you are conducting. If you are conducting a mission to Jupiter's moons or an orbiter, the rocket should get there with a high orbit, as it can save large amounts of fuel. If you are sending a satellite or whatnot into a low Jupiter orbit, then the rocket needs a lot of fuel.

Another option to get to Jupiter orbit is aerobraking at Jupiter. This may be risky, but it can save a lot of fuel. This technique is used with a lot of heat shields. When entering Jupiter's atmosphere, try to make the rocket as stable as possible, and probably turn on the No Heat Damage cheat, as Jupiter's atmosphere can destroy a rocket passing through its atmosphere, with or without a heat shield. It's because of the high velocity.

Getting to Jupiter's moons[]

After reaching Jupiter orbit, it's time to explore Jupiter's moons if you have a lander on board.

You might be asking, "Why the moons and not Jupiter itself?" Jupiter doesn't have a solid surface, since it's a gas giant. Also, it will be very hard to get back from Jupiter's surface (if it had one in-game) because of its thick atmosphere and high gravity.

Click on one of Jupiter's moons, then click Navigate To. A transfer window will appear with the dotted line that represents the nominal trajectory. Time warp until the rocket reaches the transfer window, and fire the engine until the trajectory intersects one of Jupiter's moons. Just like earlier, get to orbit on one of Jupiter's moons by firing the engine retrograde.

Landing on Jupiter's moons[]

Now, for the hardest part: landing on Jupiter's moons. Each moon has its own difficulty to get there.

To land on a celestial body, pick a landing spot, then fire the engine(s) retrograde until the trajectory impacts the surface near the landing spot. When reaching 2000 meters, fire the engine until the velocity drops to 12 m/s. when the gravity pulls you down even more to the surface, fire the engine until the velocity drops below that point. Deploy the landing legs. When dropping to 500 meters slow down to 5 m/s or lower.

Io[]

Landing on Io can be hard because of the rough terrain and large gravity of 1.8 m/s². A landing on Io requires some fuel (but not too much), and a landing footprint that has a relatively smooth terrain.

Europa[]

Landing on Europa is easy and it's as easy as landing on the moon because of the low gravity and smooth terrain.

Ganymede[]

Landing on Ganymede can be difficult because of its rough terrain; try to land on a spot that has no mountains, irregularities and all sorts of stuff.

Callisto[]

Landing on Callisto is very similar to landing on the Moon or Mars. It has many craters. The craters can be an exploration spot for many spacecraft. Callisto has the smallest gravity of all the Galilean moons of Jupiter, so landing requires some fuel, but not much.

Returning to home (optional)[]

If you are doing a return mission (say a sample return mission), then the process is easier than going from Earth to Jupiter.

Before you land back on Earth, Jupiter and Earth must be aligned like before the launch (as explained above). Lift off from the surface of one of Jupiter's moons and return to orbit. Time warp until the rocket gets to the periapsis of the orbit, then fire the engine until the trajectory gets parabolic (meaning that the trajectory has an eccentricity of 1). Then the rocket is at a high Jupiter orbit. If it crosses a moon, correct the orbit so that it doesn't cross it. Select Earth, click Navigate To, and a transfer window will appear. Time warp to the transfer window, and fire the engine until the trajectory intersects Earth's orbit. If the rocket stage runs out of fuel, dispose it and turn on the rocket engine on the other stage.

When returning to Earth, gravity assists might be required to slow down the reentry speed.

Before hitting the atmosphere, slow down the velocity to reduce heating effects and separate the capsule. When the capsule enters the atmosphere face the heat shield towards the direction of travel. When the altitude drops to 2500 meters, deploy the parachute, detach the heat shield and the mission is complete. After achieving this mission, you are now one of the players that did one of the hardest missions in Spaceflight Simulator.

Tips[]

It is advised to get to a high Jupiter orbit. Otherwise the rocket will spend too much delta-v.
- If you are planning to get a rocket to a low Jupiter orbit, use a lot of ion engines. The engines are efficient enough so that the rocket cannot run out of fuel quickly, and the thrust of those is enough so that the rocket has no TWR problems.
When coasting to Jupiter or coasting back to Earth, make sure you correct the trajectory, or else the mission will fail, ending up your rocket in a heliocentric orbit or the interstellar void.
If the rocket you need to get to Jupiter is too large and can't fit the building area, then you should launch rocket stages to orbit, then dock them with the main stage(s), or use the Infinite Build Area cheat.
Create a quick save to save your progress in case the mission fails.

Activities[]

Studying its atmosphere and moons
Landing some probes on its moons
Trying to land on one of the moons
Sending atmospheric probes
Sending probes on Jupiter orbit
Many more...