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Additionally, you'll note that I didn't in fact change to docking mode.

I shot past the target ship and had to correct. Keep it under 1m/s within 10m.Īs a side note, I screwed up this particular approach because I wasn't paying attention and didn't reduce my speed as I closed in. Now use translation controls to line up the axis of your docking ports, thrust forward, and let the docking ports magnetism do the rest. Change your view to Chase by hitting V a few times. Now you can switch to docking mode, as you don't want to use your main engine anymore.

Point yourself in the opposite direction, thus making the axis of the two docking ports parallel. Hopefully you remembered to orient your target ship such that one of the ports is pointing north or south (for equatorial orbits, normal or anti normal in general). Final approach: by the time you're within about 1km, you should have a relative velocity less than 10m/s.As you close in, continue making adjustments to your course to keep your velocity vector on the target indicator and continue reducing your relative velocity. Keep your prograde vector pointed at the target, and reduce your relative velocity to under 50m/s. In this mode, your velocity vectors indicate the relative velocity between you an your target. Initial approach: by now, the nav ball should be in target mode.If you're already within about 5km, you can skip this step. Also take this time to make your orbits co-planar by burning in the normal or anti normal direction at the descending or ascending node respectively. In a similar vein, if you're trailing your target, you'll want to decrease your orbital period by lowering your periapsis. Burn prograde to increase your apoapsis about 5km higher than your target, or until the intercept minimizes. Closing the gap: if you're leading your target (in front of it), you'll want to increase your orbital period.One key thing to remember is to set your apoapsis to meet your target altitude.

If your target isn't in an equatorial orbit, then you'll also want to launch when the orbital plane crosses your launch site. Time your launch: A general rule of thumb is to launch when your target is just rising in the west (unless your target is in a retrograde orbit).There are several steps to successful dockings.