Escape velocity is the minimum speed an object needs to break free of a planet's (or moon's) gravity without further propulsion.
Escape velocity is the minimum speed an object needs to break free of a planet's (or moon's) gravity without further propulsion. It depends only on the planet's mass and radius. This calculator finds the escape velocity in kilometers per second.
For Earth (M = 5.97×10²⁴ kg, r = 6.371×10⁶ m): v = √(2 × 6.674×10⁻¹¹ × 5.97×10²⁴ / 6.371×10⁶) ≈ 11.19 km/s — matching the well-known figure for Earth's escape velocity.
It's the minimum speed an object needs to break free from a celestial body's gravity without further propulsion, ignoring atmospheric drag.
Escape velocity = √(2GM/r), where G is the gravitational constant, M is the body's mass, and r is the distance from its center.
That figure comes directly from plugging Earth's mass and radius into the escape velocity formula — larger or more massive bodies have higher escape velocities.