Operations scenarios and the 3D satellite demo

Open the demo

Open the 3D satellite demo from the Mission Design Lab. It works without an account and your changes stay in the browser. Sign in and open a mission design to save scenarios to your account.

Press Play

Play moves the time cursor along the run. You can also click or drag on a chart to move it. Change the speed, pause, and go back to the start. The 3D view and the charts follow the same moment.

Setup: the orbit and the date

The Setup tab holds the orbit, circular or elliptical with the J2 drift, the start date and the duration. You can also make a constellation of several satellites in planes, spread in a delta or a star pattern.

Spacecraft: panels, battery and data

The Spacecraft tab sets the size, the solar panels and the axis each one faces, the battery capacity, the data storage and how fast the satellite can slew. You can add a 3D satellite model.

Ground: stations and targets

Add a known station or a custom one, and targets such as areas of interest. Countries, economic zones and sea areas can be outlined on the map and in the 3D view.

Satellite modes

A satellite mode fixes how the satellite is pointed, what it draws in power and whether the payload and the transmitter are on. Add a mode with Add a satellite mode and give it a name, a pointing and a load.

Mission modes and rules

Rules decide when each satellite mode applies. A rule has conditions, such as battery below a percentage or a station in view, a priority, and the mode to switch to. The higher priority wins. A rule with no conditions always applies.

Read the charts

The results show power generated against load, battery and storage, slew rate against its limit, and the Sun angle on each panel. Totals such as data downlinked and passes sit above them.

Record a video

Open Record a video, choose what to record (the whole scenario, from the cursor to the end, or 10 minutes around the cursor), the picture size and the length, then Start recording. Download the file when it stops.

Save, duplicate and delete

When you open the scenarios of a saved mission design, you can save a scenario, duplicate it to try a variant and delete it. Deleting cannot be undone.

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