Context : The spiral structure of the Milky Way ( MW ) is highly uncertain and is the subject of much discussion nowadays .
Even the spiral structure close to the Sun and the real nature of the so-called Local or Orion arm are poorly known .

Aims : We present the first result from a program that determines the properties of the Local ( Orion ) spiral arm ( LOA ) , together with a full description of the program .
In this context we have made a comprehensive study of the young LOA open cluster NGC 2302 , which includes a UBVRI photometric analysis and determination of its kinematic properties – proper motion ( PM ) and radial velocity ( RV ) – and of its orbital parameters .

Methods : Making a geometric registration of our ad-hoc first- and second-epoch CCD frames ( 12-year timeframe ) , we determined the mean PM of NGC 2302 relative to the local field of disk stars , and , through a comparison with the UCAC4 catalog , we transformed this relative PM into an absolute one .
Using medium-resolution spectroscopy of 26 stars in the field of NGC 2302 , we derived its mean RV .
We determined the cluster ’ s structure , center , and radius by means of a density analysis of star counts .
Photometric diagrams for several color combinations were built using our data , which allowed us to identify the stellar populations present in the field of NGC 2302 and to carry out our photometric membership analysis .
Isochrone fits to the photometric diagrams allowed us to determine the fundamental parameters of NGC 2302 , including reddening , distance , and age .
The kinematic data and derived distance allowed us to determine the space motion of NGC 2302 .
This was done by adopting a time-independent , axisymmetric , and fully analytic gravitational potential for the MW .

Results : We obtained an absolute PM for NGC 2302 of ( \mu _ { \alpha } \cos \delta, \mu _ { \delta } ) = ( -2.09 , -2.11 ) mas yr ^ { -1 } , with standard errors of 0.410 and 0.400 mas yr ^ { -1 } .
The mean RV of NGC 2302 turned out to be 31.2 km sec ^ { -1 } with a standard error of 0.7 km sec ^ { -1 } .
The density analysis revealed a remarkably spherical concentration of stars centered at \alpha _ { 2000 } = 06:51:51.820 , \delta _ { 2000 } = -07:05:10.68 with a radius of 2.5 { \arcmin } .
Although densely contaminated by field stars , all our photometric diagrams show a recognizable cluster sequence of bright stars ( V \leq 18 ) .
The color-color diagrams show the existence of more than one population , each affected by distinct reddening with the cluster sequence at E ( B - V ) = 0.23 .
Isochrone fits displaced for this reddening and for a distance modulus of ( m - M ) _ { 0 } = 10.69 ( distance , d = 1.40 kpc ) indicate an age of \log ( t ) = 7.90 - 8.00 with a slight tendency toward the younger age .
Inspection of the shape of the orbit of NGC 2302 and the resulting orbital parameters indicate that it is a typical population I object .

Conclusions :