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Loading...Introduction to CubeSat Development
When I first started working on CubeSat projects, I was surprised by the complexity of orbit determination and tracking. Last quarter, our team discovered that using Python 3.12, PyEphem 4.1, and Orekit 11.3 could significantly improve the accuracy of our CubeSat's orbit. Here's what I learned when implementing these tools in our project.
The Problem of Orbit Determination
Most docs skip the hard part of orbit determination, which is handling the nuances of orbital mechanics. I realized that PyEphem's simplifications don't always work for high-precision applications. We needed a more advanced approach.
Deep Dive into PyEphem 4.1
PyEphem is a great library for basic astronomical calculations, but it has limitations when it comes to precise orbit determination. When I first tried using PyEphem for our CubeSat project, it broke because the library doesn't account for atmospheric drag. Here's how I fixed it:
import ephem
# Define the CubeSat's orbit
cube_sat = ephem.readtle('CubeSat',
'1 43253U 18029A 21213.17444143 -.
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- Real-world examples and metrics
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