Satellites and constellations
The console renders three kinds of satellite populations, and is precise about what each one can tell you: your operator fleet (full telemetry and predictions), catalog constellations (real orbits, display and geometry only), and synthetic satellites (full physics, clearly labeled, never real hardware).
A selected fleet satellite: the entity card open on the Overview tab with orbit, current state, and network sections populated.
Fleet satellites vs catalog constellations
| Fleet satellite | Catalog constellation object | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Operator program | TLE catalog groups (Starlink, GPS, Iridium NEXT, weather, science, and more) |
| Position | SGP4 propagation plus telemetry | SGP4 propagation from catalog TLEs |
| Telemetry | Live and replay | None |
| Links | Feeder and inter-satellite links | None |
| Predictions | Production models | None |
| Orbital detail card | Full | Full orbital sections; network sections empty |
Catalog groups are rendering batches for high-object-count sources, not a separate world: search, selection, and detail resolve catalog objects through the same registry as everything else. Toggle groups from the constellation catalog (organized by category: Commercial LEO, GEO/MEO comms, Navigation, Weather and Earth, Scientific, Stations, and orbit regimes such as SSO and Molniya) or ask the assistant to show, isolate, or hide them.
The satellite detail card
Selecting any satellite opens a structured inspector. Every field is filled from a real source (catalog registry, TLE-derived elements, sim telemetry, the pass predictor, eclipse geometry) or shown as an explicit dash. The console never fabricates a value to fill a box.
Overview: operator, constellation, name, NORAD id, COSPAR id, object type, mission type, operational status, launch date, vehicle, manufacturer, launch site, ephemeris source, epoch, and epoch age.
Orbit: classification and plane, current altitude and mean altitude, apogee and perigee, inclination, eccentricity, semi-major axis, period, mean motion, RAAN, argument of perigee, true and mean anomaly, velocity, ascending or descending leg, and sub-satellite point.
Current state: health, sunlit or in eclipse, visibility to a gateway, next AOS and LOS, next perigee, apogee, and equator crossing, and ground-track repeat cycle when one exists.
Network (fleet satellites): utilization, capacity, allocated and available throughput, queue depth, active links, latency, serving gateway, connected ground stations, inter-satellite link count, frequency band, MODCOD, link margin, SNR, BER, and transmit power.
The card also exposes the satellite's ground track and its upcoming passes over your gateways; the Schedule tab shows those contacts on the same Gantt the gateway view uses.
Synthetic satellites and Walker constellations
Synthetic satellites are first-class assets, not chart-only estimates. When you ask the assistant to "create a 700 km SSO satellite" or "create a Walker constellation, 24 satellites in 6 planes":
- Real TLEs are synthesized from the requested elements (for sun-synchronous orbits, the inclination is derived automatically).
- Planes are spaced evenly in RAAN, satellites evenly in mean anomaly per plane, with the Walker inter-plane phase offset applied.
- The satellites propagate through the same SGP4 worker, animate identically on the globe, appear in the asset browser under the Synthetic group, and support pass prediction and coverage analysis.
- Coverage results report combined coverage (at least one satellite visible from any station), per-satellite coverage, pass intervals, and the full set of chosen and derived assumptions.
- Everything is permanently labeled synthetic and kept separate from live telemetry.
Missing parameters never block a request: the engine picks stated nominal defaults (SSO, 700 km, 12-hour window, 60-second step, 10-degree elevation mask) and reports them, so a quick question gets a quick, honest answer.
Common workflows
| Task | How |
|---|---|
| Inspect any object's orbit | Select it, read the Orbit section, or ask "get detail on ..." |
| Check eclipse state before a maneuver window | Current state section, sunlit/eclipse and next crossings |
| See a satellite's contacts today | Schedule tab on the satellite card |
| Compare two constellation designs | Ask for a coverage comparison; each design runs as a synthetic scenario with identical scoring |
| Clean up after design work | Delete or hide the Synthetic group in Assets |
Example scenarios
Epoch sanity check. Before quoting a conjunction geometry, an analyst opens the satellite card and sees the ephemeris epoch is 11 days old. The card made staleness visible instead of letting an outdated element set masquerade as current truth.
Sizing a gap-filler. A planner asks "how many satellites at 550 km, 53 degrees do I need for one-hour revisit over Alaska". The assistant synthesizes candidate Walker configurations, scores each against the ground network with identical windows and masks, and returns the smallest configuration meeting the target, all as inspectable synthetic assets on the globe.