At 30 seconds before apoapsis, reignite the engine at full throttle with Z. Let the rocket coast towards apoapsis after cutting off the engine.Īs the rocket approaches apoapsis, orient it once more to align with the prograde marker. In map view, hover the mouse over the "AP" label on the highest point of the trajectory to monitor the apoapsis height cut off the engine with X when it reaches 70 km (70,000 meters). Continue to watch the Navball and steer the rocket to keep it aligned it with prograde. Click the Navball toggle at the bottom of the screen to make it visible again. Hit the space bar to discard it and to activate the second stage.
The fuel of the first stage will run out before 20km altitude. If craft nears the apoapsis too fast, which can be seen in a dropping time to apoapsis, it might be necessary to point “above” the prograde marker, away from the brown half. Follow it by keeping the level indicator within the circle of the prograde marker at all times especially while in the lower atmosphere, but at about 30km the reaction wheels should be able to compensate. On the Navball this can be observed as the Prograde marker dropping further down. While the rocket accelerates, gravity will bend the trajectory downwards. The heading ("HDG") on the Navball should now be 90 degrees. When the rocket's speed reaches 100 m/s, start a gravity turn by pressing the D key until the rocket is pitched 10 degrees towards the East.
Use the Navball to keep the level indicator centered on the blue hemisphere. Launch by hitting the space bar and keep the rocket pointed straight up until the vehicle's speed is 100 m/s.