The take off of a space shuttle uses up a great amount of energy which is stored in the form of kinetic and potential energy. We already know the value of the potential energy for relatively low heights: Ep=m·g·h, which is a measure of the work carried out by the gravitational field on a body dropped from a height of h metres.

When we consider greater heights, it is no longer possible to assume that the acceleration of gravity is a constant and the problem becomes more complicated.