Scrape TLE orbit parameters from the internet and translate them to Celestia SSC format.
It can generate SSC data for any satellite found in the CelesTrak database: http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/
The program is implemented in a single Python 3 file with no dependencies.
- Install Python 3.
- Download the file translate_orbit.py and put it anywhere.
To get program parameters and options, run it with the -h switch:
python translate_orbit.py -h
To generate the SSC output for a sattelite you need to know two pieces of information: a) the category b) the name
To get a list of categories, run the program without parameters:
python translate_orbit.py
To get a list of all satellites in a category, use the -c parameter:
python translate_orbit.py -c stations
Once you have found the name, create the SSC output using the -s parameter along with the -c parameter:
python translate_orbit.py -c stations -s "ISS (ZARYA)"
Both the name of the category and the name of the satellite are case sensitive.
After generating the ssc file and putting it in the Celestia 'extras' or 'extras-standard' folder, Celestia must be restarted for changes to take effect.
You can choose the mesh model to with the -m argument:
python translate_orbit.py -c stations -s "ISS (ZARYA)" -m iss.cmod
You can define the size of the satellite, in kilometres, using the -r parameter:
python translate_orbit.py -c stations -s "ISS (ZARYA)" -m iss.cmod -r 0.04
Finally you can specify a custom orientation using the -o argument.
The argument is an array of four numbers. The first is the rotation, in degrees.
The last three arguments are the components of the rotation axis.
python translate_orbit.py -c stations -s "ISS (ZARYA)" -m iss.cmod -r 0.04 -o "[ 90 0 0 1 ]"