Satellite Constellation Visualisation Usage: ./test -n<num> where <num> is the number of satellites. Currently only has one constellation design, with three equally-spaced orbital planes, and mean anomalies suited to an even number of sats per plane. (If you want to model a different design, change the code!) With n = 6, all sats share a common plane, which rotates twice per orbit. With n = 12, there are two such planes, 180° apart. Sat visibility is based on an orbital altitude of 4170km, chosen because it gives an orbital period of 10770.5s, one eighth of a sidereal day. The range calculation is based on the root model and assumes a base sat range of 12Mm. So, for a target range of r km, the effective range in km is r + sqrt(12000 * r) This assumes r < 12000, as the root model is properly min(r + R) + sqrt(rR) but in practice if r > 12000 then we will be horizon-limited anyway. Keys: r Toggle [r]unning animation z Toggle display of coverage [z]ones m Write [m]inimum latitude without coverage to stdout. Requires coverage zones to be enabled. 0 Reset time to t = 0. -/+ Decrease/increase target range. Writes new range and effective range to stdout. Step is 1000km (or 100km if Ctrl held). left/right cursor keys Step time back/forwards down/up cursor keys Decrease/increase orbital inclination, in 0.4° steps. q Quit.
ec429/constellation
Tool for designing satellite constellations & visualising coverage footprints
CMIT