photo #8733432

Flat-earthers and many people in general have the mistaken belief that, to enter orbit, rockets must ascend vertically until they reach an altitude where gravitational attraction can no longer pull them back.This is not the case. For example, at the altitude where the International Space Station orbits, gravitational attraction is still about 88% of what it is at the surface, which is still a considerable force.Therefore, what a spacecraft actually needs to achieve in order to enter orbit is to reach a tangential (parallel to the Earth's surface) velocity large enough so that the vertical component of its movement, due to the Earth's curvature, compensates for the fall toward Earth caused by gravitational attraction.That’s why, in rocket launches, we see that after a certain point, they begin to follow a curved trajectory and fly more laterally.