
Real-time visualisation of orbiting satellites - JosephRedfern
http://apps.agi.com/SatelliteViewer/
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TeMPOraL
Holy shit, we have a lot of junk out there. It seems like we're building a
multi-layered defense shield against alien invasion - the outer band will
damage the enemy staging their attack from the Moon, and the inner band shall
make it impossible to keep their motherships in low-orbit for continued
planetary assault.

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ulkesh
"Real-time" is a bit relative ( _wink_ ) when it takes minutes to get the data
into the browser.

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wrigby
The locations are most likely calculated using orbit information published by
NORAD and/or the spacecraft operators. This is called ephemeris data, and is
usually published in a format called "two-line element," or TLE. A TLE
contains a complete description of the spacecraft's orbit at a specific time,
so you can then calculate where the spacecraft will be at any moment given
that it stays in that orbit.

See [http://www.celestrak.com](http://www.celestrak.com) for a bunch more
information on the subject. Of particular interest is the TLE format itself
([http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/documentation/tle-
fmt.asp](http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/documentation/tle-fmt.asp)).

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eridal
Anybody knows what "nonoperational" means. Are those simply shutdown
collecting space dust?

Leaving aside if it's allowed/legal .. I wonder if it's possible to establish
communication with a nonoperational satellite, and what tools are required to
do so

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unchocked
If I learned anything but watching The Martian, it's that the law of the sea
applies in space. So a nonoperational satellite would be subject to salvage
rights?

~~~
jcreedon
You should probably qualify that with a Andy-Weir-is-not-a-lawyer disclaimer.
There are a few space treaties that probably supersede some elements of
"maritime" law.

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thomasdd
I am amazed by the Nonoperational/Operational ratio.

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panzagl
It takes a lot of fuel to deorbit something in a controlled manner.

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bluehawk
I'm curious, at what appears to be GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) there is a
ring of green "operational" satellites that align with the equator, then there
is a "belt" of non-operational satellites that seem to have spread out from
them.

1\. Is this because the non-operational ones can no longer station keep and
slowly spread out?

2\. Why are they in a belt shape?

3\. Why is the belt not centered on the green ring? They seem to be all
"moving" in the same direction? (When I looked at it, their orbits tend to
"dip" south while above the western hemisphere and north while above eastern
hemisphere)

~~~
lloyd-christmas
I believe it's due to the point of ascension changing. With the earth tilting
at 23.5 degrees, a GEO orbit also has to be at that angle relative to the sun.
Once they are no longer operational, they will stay at that 23.5 degree angle,
but the point of ascension will drift as the altitude (and therefore the
orbital period) changes.

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javiramos
Can someone explain why there are so many satellites in a cylindrical section
far from the earth and not much in-between it and the earth?

~~~
ianburrell
That is geostationary orbit. The active satellites are in circle along the
equator while the inactive ones are in wider band outside of geostationary
orbit.

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lordnacho
There's only a few weather satellites. That surprises me. You'd think there
was a lot of demand for something like that?

~~~
mikeash
A single weather satellite can cover a huge chunk of the Earth. You don't need
that many for complete coverage.

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not_that_noob
Does it include military/spy satellites? If not, then there's likely even more
satellites both operational and non up there.

[Edit] Scanning the skies above Russia and China for satellites with a non-
specified mission doesn't bring up a single US satellite. So it appears that
this data does not include spy satellites.

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ben174
If you click the 'X' next to ComSpOC - removing the filter - there are a TON
more satellites. What is that filter and what are all the additional
satellites?

~~~
lloyd-christmas
It's their company's tracking repository, which is an alternative to the Joint
Space Operations Center's (JSPOC) repository.

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joezydeco
Who remembers NASA's J-Track?

