Orbit insertion is a deceleration or acceleration maneuver performed by a spacecraft designed to allow the spacecraft to be captured into orbit around a planet or other body such as a moon.
From an trans-planetary perspective, the spacecraft approaches a body at a speed greater than the escape velocity of that body. The spacecraft must reduce its speed to below the body's escape velocity. This is usually accomplished through a rocket firing (orbit insertion burn). The reduction in speed allows the spacecraft to settle into orbit around the body. Aerobraking can also be used to slow the spacecraft, assuming the body in question has an atmosphere.
From a launch perspective, orbit insertion is also the maneuver used by spacecraft to establish an orbit around a body. Many flight profiles involve establishing a "base" orbit in space during the launch phase and performing refining maneuvers to insert the craft into the desired orbit. The difference here is that the vehicle usually must make minor course corrections and possibly even accelerate to attain desired orbit around a body as opposed to decelerating from a trans-planetary trajectory.
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