Editing Delta-v (section)

==Production==
Delta-''v'' is typically provided by the [[thrust]] of a [[rocket engine]], but can be created by other engines. The time-rate of change of delta-''v'' is the magnitude of the acceleration ''caused by the engines'', i.e., the thrust per total vehicle mass. The actual acceleration vector would be found by adding thrust per mass on to the gravity vector and the vectors representing any other forces acting on the object.

The total delta-''v'' needed is a good starting point for early design decisions since consideration of the added complexities are deferred to later times in the design process.

The rocket equation shows that the required amount of propellant [[exponential growth|increases exponentially]] with increasing delta-''v''. Therefore, in modern [[spacecraft propulsion]] systems considerable study is put into reducing the total delta-''v'' needed for a given spaceflight, as well as designing spacecraft that are capable of producing larger delta-''v''.

Increasing the delta-''v'' provided by a propulsion system can be achieved by:
*[[staging (rocketry)|staging]]
*increasing [[specific impulse]]
*improving [[propellant mass fraction]]