What happens if I speed up an Apollo group asteroid?

[member 656954]

Okay, having devised the antimatter bomb, I'm moving along to the concept of using Apollo group asteroids as freight trains for the inner solar system, but my knowledge of orbital mechanics is zilch.

For example, (343158) 2009 HC82 appears to have a max speed of about 56 km/s at perihelion. It's fast, but I want faster!

So, if I attach engines to 2009 HC82 and add to its speed, will I alter its orbit, or does it just travel faster in the same orbit?

And more generically, is there a maximum speed for an Earth-crossing orbit that runs in from about Ceres to somewhere between Mercury and Venus?

 

[Vanadium 50]

You will definitely alter its orbit. If you speed it up at perihelion and then let it coast, it will return to that point, but the rest of the orbit will change.

 

[member 656954]

I just used AstroGrav to model this and it doesn't take much extra speed to kick an object out of the solar system, and certainly the speeds I intend to use do not result in orbits, they result in 'Oumuamua-like transits

So, I'm going to have to use a different mode of transport for the story, asteroid freight trains can work for second class goods, but it's too slow for what I need.