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Every Satellite Tracked In Realtime Via Google Earth

Posted by kdawson on from the bejeweled-coterie dept.

Matt Amato writes "With the recent discussion of the ISS having to dodge some space junk, many people's attention has once again focused on the amount of stuff in orbit around our planet. What many people don't know is that USSTRATCOM tracks and publishes a list of over 13,000 objects that they currently monitor, including active/retired satellites and debris. This data is meaningless to most people, but thanks to Analytical Graphics, it has now been made accessible free of charge to anyone with a copy of Google Earth. By grabbing the KMZ, you can not only view all objects tracked in real-time, but you can also click on them to get more information on the specific satellite, including viewing its orbit trajectory. It's an excellent educational tool for the space-curious. Disclaimer: I not only work for Analytical Graphics, but I'm the one that wrote this tool as a demo."

2 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Err, not just Google Earth. by apathy+maybe · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to the Wikipedia article on Keyhole Markup Language, the following apps can read and understand it:

            * ArcGIS Explorer
            * Feature Manipulation Engine (FME)
            * Flickr
            * Google Earth
            * Google Maps
            * Google Mobile
            * Live Search Maps
            * Microsoft Virtual Earth
            * Map My Ancestors
            * Mapufacture
            * Marble (KDE)
            * OpenLayers
            * Platial
            * RouteBuddy for Mac
            * WikiMapia
            * World Wind
            * Yahoo Pipes
            * SuperMap iServer (SuperMap IS) .NET and Java
            * OpenLAPI, an LGPL implementation of the Location API for Java ME

    So, for those of you who don't have, or don't want to use, or can't use Google Earth, there are plenty of other options available.

    But yes, it's pretty cool what you can do hey.

    --
    I wank in the shower.
  2. Re:Spy Satellites by nedlohs · · Score: 5, Informative

    GPS satellites orbit at around 20200km., Spy satellites (of the take pictures variety - some other types are in geosynchronous orbit, SBIRS and Rhyolite for example) orbit at around 200km (sometime under 100km, sometimes 600km - there's the obvious detail/area trade off).

    GSP just requires line of sight. Spy satellite cameras point in some direction.

    Claiming there is any relationship at all between having 4 GPS sats in view at any time and what spy satellites are capable of is ridiculous.