A measure, in units of velocity, of the total impulse per unit spacecraft mass required to carry out a propulsive maneuver such as launch, orbital transfer, rendezvous or landing. It is the standard budgeting currency in mission design because it is additive across maneuvers and ties directly into propellant requirements through the rocket equation.
Facts
Concept Domain Formulated YearDelta-v is fixed as a quantity by the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation. The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation article states that Konstantin Tsiolkovsky derived and published the formula in 1903, with William Moore outlining the same relation as early as 1810 and 1813, and Robert Goddard and Hermann Oberth reaching the same result independently in 1912 and 1920. No source names a year for the term delta-v itself, so 1903 marks the derivation the quantity is defined against, following the same reasoning already used for Orbital Mechanics and Escape Velocity, both dated to the founding publication rather than to a later naming. Open Questions
Proposed ByNot documented in the sources consulted
The Wikipedia Delta-v article, checked 2026-09-12, defines and applies the concept but names no individual as having proposed or introduced it. Connections
Associated With
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
A Hohmann transfer's cost is expressed and compared to other maneuvers in delta-v.
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationDelta-v, lead paragraph section
Delta-v (also known as 'change in velocity')
Delta-v, Multiple maneuvers section
This is convenient since it means that delta-v can be calculated and simply added and the mass ratio calculated only for the overall vehicle for the entire mission.
- Associated With: Escape Velocity
- Associated With: Gravity Assist
- Associated With: Hohmann Transfer Orbit
- Associated With: Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation
- Associated With: Aerobraking
View the Source Wikipedia: Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
Wikimedia FoundationTsiolkovsky rocket equation, History sectionQuote, Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, History section
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who derived and published the formula in 1903, though William Moore had outlined it as early as 1810 and elaborated further in a book published in 1813.
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