How orbits affect course and travel time
In this guide · Fleets
Planets and jump gates have real positions in a system. Fleets calculate their route using those positions and the movement of the destination.
For a journey between systems, a fleet travels from its origin planet to a jump gate, follows the route’s hyperlanes and approaches the destination from its arrival gate. If the route passes through other systems, it may also need to travel between their gates.
The game calculates an interception with the destination’s expected position at arrival. That is why the same fleet may have a different travel time and fuel cost when sent to the same planet at another time. The outward and return journeys may also take different amounts of time.
Review the mission estimate before each launch. The number of jumps indicates the distance between systems, but does not explain the entire travel time.