OrbitNC

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orbitNC Home Screen
Satellite Tracker
Data Visualization

Inspiration

The sky is filled with movement, but most of us never notice it. Every second, satellites are silently passing over our heads—enabling GPS navigation, global communication, weather forecasting, scientific research, and so much more. Yet despite their critical role, they remain invisible to the everyday observer. We wanted to change that. Inspired by the growing role of satellite technology in daily life, we set out to create OrbitNC, a real-time satellite tracker specifically for North Carolina. With the rapid rise of satellite mega-constellations, growing concern over space debris, and increasing reliance on satellites for emergency response, having an accessible way to visualize their movement is more valuable than ever. Whether it’s for amateur astronomers, educators, space enthusiasts, or just the curious, OrbitNC makes satellite tracking intuitive, real-time, and region-specific, bringing space just a little closer to home.

What it does

We developed a website that tracks satellites currently orbiting above North Carolina or on a trajectory toward the state. Our system retrieves satellite data from a two-line element set (TLE), processes it using the SGP4 propagation algorithm, and converts the results into a structured JSON file. This allows us to accurately compute the latitude and longitude of each satellite in real time. The computed satellite positions are visualized on an interactive map using markers, and the SGP4 algorithm is further utilized to predict which satellites will pass over North Carolina within the next three hours. Satellites on a direct path to North Carolina are represented with a straight-line trajectory to the state. However, due to the limitations of Leaflet, our mapping framework, certain complex orbital paths cannot be accurately displayed, and those trajectories are omitted. By implementing this approach, our platform effectively provides real-time tracking of satellites that will traverse North Carolina in the near future.

How we built it

Using Git, we created a GitHub repository to collaborate and share code. We used Visual Studio and the Live Server extension to code our project. Our project was coded in HTML, CSS, AND JavaScript, and is hosted on GitHub Pages.

Challenges we ran into

We had trouble getting the satellites to show up properly because it was difficult to filter through almost 11000 satellites to find enough satellites to have good data but not have too much where it would be difficult to look at. By using satellites predicted to cross NC in the next 3 hours, we achieved a good number of data points for the website. We also had trouble setting up the line wrapping to cross the international date line, but we set it up so it creates 2 distinct lines and only works for satellites very close to the dateline.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our map feature. Our map allows the user to click on and view various satellites on a trajectory across North Carolina. The map updates the location of the satellite with the newest data multiple times a day, showing the current location, altitude, satellite name, and a link to learn more about the individual satellite. Furthermore, we were able to chart the rough trajectory of the satellites that are headed toward North Carolina, estimating the direct path without the Bézier curve. We are also proud of our integration of a predictive regression model to estimate the amount of satellites that will be in our orbit over the course of time, to help understand the scope of our project.

What we learned

Through this experience, we learned how to create websites utilizing Javascript, HTML, and CSS. We also learned how to implement a map into our website and allow the user to search for a certain location on the map by clicking on it, learning a lot of front-end and back-end development skills in the process.

What's next for OrbitNC

We hope to expand our dataset in the future so that our website will be able to track satellites across the entire world, rather than North Carolina. We also hope to implement a Bézier curve calculator that would plot the accurate trajectory of all satellites being displayed on the map. Furthermore, we are currently hosting on Github pages which is a static host and is unable to support real-time location updates. We hope to implement a dynamic host feature in order to support real-time movement of the satellite icons.