Constellation

Constellations let you group real catalog satellites together so you can analyze them as a set — for aggregate contact time, coverage gaps, or fleet-level studies.

Creating a constellation

There are two modes:

Predefined

Select from a list of known constellations (e.g. Starlink, Iridium, OneWeb) fetched from the TLE catalog. The dropdown is searchable and shows the satellite count for each constellation. Once selected, the individual satellites in that constellation are loaded and you can choose which ones to include.

Custom

Name your own constellation and search the TLE database to pick individual satellites by name, NORAD ID, country, or other metadata. This lets you build arbitrary groupings — e.g. a custom set of Earth-observation satellites from different operators.

Managing constellation satellites

After selecting a predefined constellation or searching for custom satellites, you get a table with:

• Satellite name and NORAD ID
• Inclination and altitude (derived from the TLE)
• TLE age and launch age
• Country flag and operator

You can filter, sort, and select/deselect individual satellites before saving. A histogram view lets you visualize the distribution of inclination, altitude, TLE age, or launch age across the loaded set.

Using constellations

Each satellite in a constellation is propagated individually using SGP4 (from its TLE). Once propagated, you can:

• Run access analysis against your ground station network — see Access.
• Run power analysis per satellite — see Power.

Constellation orbits and ground tracks are visualized on the 3D globe with a configurable line color and visibility toggle.

Next steps

• Satellites — individual satellite setup and propagation
• Access — aggregate contact time across the constellation