The rocket equation can be used to figure out how much fuel is required for a certain delta-V, and thus a desired orbit. The problem is that the mass of fuel required scales exponentially with ...

The Delta IV was a clean-sheet design, initially conceived by McDonnell Douglas, that won a contract from the Air Force in 1998, alongside Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rocket, to become the primary ...

It requires an extraordinary amount of delta-v to go from the surface of our planet into low-Earth orbit (LEO)—very nearly 10,000 m/s. This is why powerful rockets are needed to launch satellites.