How easy is it for aerospace fighters to go from space to atmosphere to space

[Precentor Scorpio]

For cheap fiction purposes regarding a potential clan unit.  I would like to keep the aerospace units in space for logistics and security reasons.  How easy is it to safely enter and leave the atmosphere and still provide support to the ground units?

[AlphaMirage]

Its pretty simple. Most of the rules are within Total Warfare (old printing) with some expanded in Strategic Ops (old printing). Aerospace fighters burn more fuel in atmo and have to get fairly low in altitude (<5 out of 10 total) to effectively engage ground targets.

[Fallen_Raven]

It's less a matter of difficulty in crossing the atmospheric interface (boundary between space and not space), and more an issue of being in a useful orbit in the first place. If you're in a geostationary orbit, you're pretty far out and have to add the flight time to and from your launch point which burdens response time. If you're in low orbit you will be circling many times per day, which can put you severely out of place (wrong side of the planet) to respond to events. Matching velocities for orbit, calculating flight times, and managing fuel reserves all become much bigger concerns in trans-atmopshereic operations.

[Daryk]

If your carrier is willing to burn the fuel, you can be geostationary MUCH lower...

[cray]

If your carrier is willing to burn the fuel, you can be geostationary MUCH lower...

Carrier? It takes 2 thrust points to fight 1G. Without getting its landing gear involved, a typical fighter can be in a geostationary from 1m to 200km for over 3 hours.

[Daryk]

True, and my statement is only reinforced by that.  A carrier DropShip can stay in a low orbit for days or weeks (some even for months).

[Charistoph]

It's less a matter of difficulty in crossing the atmospheric interface (boundary between space and not space), and more an issue of being in a useful orbit in the first place. If you're in a geostationary orbit, you're pretty far out and have to add the flight time to and from your launch point which burdens response time. If you're in low orbit you will be circling many times per day, which can put you severely out of place (wrong side of the planet) to respond to events. Matching velocities for orbit, calculating flight times, and managing fuel reserves all become much bigger concerns in trans-atmopshereic operations.

Those are easily calculated.  It is a bigger unknown as to how much time one may need in the atmosphere.  While a base dwell time can be calculated, even considering weather, what can't be calculated is fuel needed for dodging fire or dogfighting.