Spacecraft can go from planet to planet that way. Even if a ship from the Earth leaves Earth orbit, it is still in orbit around the Sun. Huge amounts of energy are needed to push a ship fast enough to break free from the Sun's gravitational pull. At 11km/s you can successfully break orbit and escape the gravitational pull of the Earth. At 10km/s the Earth will eventually slow down your ascent till you begin falling back towards the ground. These values are at ground level. Once in orbit the escape velocity is lower than 11km/s. It is not possible to escape the force of gravity by going into orbit. The space station is about 6800 km from the center of Earth, only about 86% farther away than the surface of our planet. The force of gravity in the International Space Station (ISS) is only slightly less than the gravity at the surface of Earth. The shuttle astronauts are certainly not weightless as they orbit the Earth, rather only apparently weightless. The Earth's gravitational field extends well into space it does not stop. However, it does weaken as one gets further from the center of the Earth. The speed required to escape the solar system if you were at the earth's distance from the sun is 42.1 km/s, but the actual escape velocity for something in the earth's system is 16.6 km/s, this is because the earth goes fast, so you get a boost by having that speed. Gravity weakens as the distance increases, but never ceases. An object never will escape the Sun's gravitational force. The sun's gravity extends out as far as light has had time to travel since the sun came into existence. Since no object can outrun light, it will never escape the Sun's gravitational force. Earth orbits the Sun at a speed of about 30,000 meters per second (67,000 miles per hour). In order to escape from the Sun at this distance, Earth would have to be moving at least 42,000 meters per second (94,000 miles per hour). It would have to speed up by 12,000 meters per second (27,000 miles per hour).