Orbital Elements
The satellite's path around Earth, and the seed for every thermal and power result downstream. Enter the six classical elements directly or import a two line element set. Either way, all elements are specified at the mission epoch.
Mission Duration & Dates
The propagation window, and which day inside it the analysis reports in detail.
Station Parameters
Station position and elevation masks used to predict passes. Positions are geodetic, on the WGS 84 ellipsoid.
Geometry & Surface Areas
The area of each face and what is mounted on it. Area weights the incident flux across the envelope; the surface decides how much of each face carries solar cells, which is what generates power and what reflects sunlight specularly. Absorptivity and emissivity stay yours to enter, in Optical Properties.
| Face | Area (A) | Surface | Cells (%) | Cell area (Aₛ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +Z | 0.008 | |||
| −Z | 0.008 | |||
| +X | 0.008 | |||
| −X | 0.008 | |||
| +Y | 0.008 | |||
| −Y | 0.008 | |||
| Σ TOTAL | 0.060 | 0.048 | ||
Optical Properties
Absorptivity (α) and emissivity (ε) per face. Together they set the radiative balance, and therefore the temperature.
| Face | Absorptivity (α) | Emissivity (ε) |
|---|---|---|
| +Z | ||
| −Z | ||
| +X | ||
| −X | ||
| +Y | ||
| −Y |
Attitude Mode
How the spacecraft is oriented: a fixed attitude, a random tumble with no attitude control, a spin about a body axis or vector, or full rigid body dynamics with disturbance torques and active control.
Mass & Drag
Mass and drag properties, which set the ballistic coefficient and therefore the decay rate.
Thermal Inputs
Bulk thermal properties governing the lumped mass temperature response.
Summary Metrics
Key orbital, thermal and power figures, at the day of interest and across the mission.
Hot / Cold Case
The hottest and coldest thermal environments in the window. Size radiators against the hot case and heaters against the cold one.
Orbital History
Altitude, beta angle, node and eccentricity across the mission. Drag is strongest at perigee, so an eccentric orbit circularises as it decays and eccentricity falls with altitude. The eclipse that follows from the beta angle has its own leaf, Eclipses, next.
Eclipses
Earth's shadow across the mission, one geometry per day from the beta angle and the mean altitude: the share of each orbit in shadow as a chart, then a table with the entrance and exit angles and the time in shadow per orbit and per day. The higher the beta angle, the less of each orbit falls in shadow. The eclipses of the day of interest, orbit by orbit with clock times, are in DOI: Report.
Lifetime Averages
Daily average heat load by source, and generated power, across the mission, one chart each.
DOI: Flux by Face
Incident and absorbed flux on each face through every orbit of the day of interest. Drag the slider under the chart to zoom in on fewer hours. The day is taken as the orbits that begin on it, so the trace starts at the first orbit boundary after 00:00 UTC and runs a little past 24 hours, to the end of the last one.
DOI: Heat & Power
Heat load and power through every orbit of the day of interest, one chart each on the same hours. When the run flies deployable wings, the power of the body cells and of the wings follow in charts of their own. Each orbit carries its own altitude, node and eclipse geometry. The day is taken as the orbits that begin on it, so the trace starts at the first orbit boundary after 00:00 UTC and runs a little past 24 hours, to the end of the last one.
DOI: Satellite Ground Track
The sub satellite point over the day of interest. Successive orbits shift west because Earth turns underneath the orbit plane. Press play to fly the day.
Ground Station Passes
Every pass above the station's elevation mask across the whole mission: acquisition, closest approach, loss of signal, geometry and direction. Times are local, using the UTC offset you set. The station tabs and their summary cards come first, then two charts with the minutes of contact and the number of passes for every day of the mission, then the pass table.
Contact Timeline
Every contact in the mission: local time of day along the bottom, date down the side, colour by peak elevation. A window of two weeks or less is drawn as markers, one per pass at closest approach, the marker area its duration and the label its peak elevation. A longer window is drawn as bars, and the diagonal drift is the orbit plane precessing. The View picker forces either, with markers available on windows of up to 31 days.
DOI: Avg. Temperature
Body temperature through every orbit of the day of interest, one node started from the converged steady state. When the run flies deployable wings, the wing temperatures follow in a chart of their own. The day is taken as the orbits that begin on it, so the trace starts at the first orbit boundary after 00:00 UTC and runs a little past 24 hours, to the end of the last one.
DOI: Report - Orbital & Attitude
Keplerian elements and the attitude direction cosine matrix, sampled around one orbit at the day of interest. Built for pasting next to an external propagator's output.
Eclipses on the day of interest
Every entry into and exit from Earth's shadow through the day, orbit by orbit, read from the backend's own per-sample shadow test. Times are UTC.
DOI: Animation
The spacecraft turning as it goes round the chosen orbit of the day of interest, from the actual attitude propagation, with the power it generates, its body temperature and its attitude error shown on three gauges over the scene.
Attitude Dynamics
Rigid body attitude under gravity gradient, aerodynamic, residual magnetic and solar pressure torques, with magnetorquer or reaction wheel control during the actuation window (shaded green). Available only when the attitude mode is Attitude dynamics.