Apoapsis

In space and astronautical engineering, apoapsis refers to the point in an orbit that is farthest from the center of mass of the celestial body being orbited. It is one of the two points in an elliptical orbit, the other being the periapsis, which is the point closest to the center of mass. The distance between the apoapsis and periapsis is known as the semi-major axis of the orbit. Apoapsis is an important concept in space mission planning as it determines the amount of energy required to transfer between orbits or to escape the gravitational pull of a celestial body. For example, a spacecraft in a low Earth orbit can increase its apoapsis to transfer to a higher orbit or to escape Earth's gravity and travel to other celestial bodies.
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