- Newton's law of gravitation states that any two masses in the universe attract each other with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
- Kepler's laws describe the motion of planets orbiting the Sun. The first law states planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus. The second law states planets sweep out equal areas in equal times. The third law relates the orbital period to the semi-major axis.
- For an object to escape Earth's gravity, it needs to reach the escape velocity of about 11 km/s, which can be reduced by taking advantage of Earth's rotation. Thrusting backwards in orbit lowers