Orbital calculators
These use the same orbital formulas as the game (comments in the JavaScript point to the matching Go code in the source), and the body constants (μ, radius, sidereal day) are copied from the game's catalog. The first two calculators start on Kern, the home planet of the Lumen system; pick Earth or another Sol or Lumen body from the dropdowns.
The game can spread a Starlink batch for you with L, but the
one-carrier method in the
constellation guide,
one comsat dropped per phasing orbit, is flown by hand. The planner below
works out its numbers.
✦Constellation phasing planner
The planner spaces N comsats 360°/N apart: release one, put the carrier in a phasing orbit that drifts it one slot over m revolutions, release the next. More revolutions per slot cost less Δv (it goes as 1/m) and take longer (time goes as m).
Δv comes from vis-viva (2·|v_apsis − v_c|). The guide's
quick-look table uses the small-offset approximation Δv ≈ v_c/(3mN), which
reads a bit high at low m. The fuel figure takes one comsat's mass off the carrier after each release.
⊙Orbital period & circular velocity
Enter an altitude above a body to get the orbital period, the circular orbit speed, and the altitude of the synchronous orbit, where the orbital period equals the body's sidereal day.
◓Coverage geometry
How much of the surface one satellite can see from a given altitude, and how many satellites a single ring needs for an unbroken band. The game's line of sight is plain geometry with no allowance for atmosphere, so at 0° minimum elevation this is the horizon the game uses.
◈CommNet link range
Two antennas can link out to the geometric mean of their rated ranges, so a big dish lets a small probe antenna reach much further than its own rating. Pick the two ends to see the link range.
| Antenna | Kind | Rated range |
|---|---|---|
| DA-5 Direct Antenna | direct (leaf) | 10 Mm |
| RA-15 Relay | relay | 1 Gm |
| RA-5 Relay | relay | 5 Gm |
| Ground Station (DSN) | sink | 5 Gm |
| DSN-88 Deep-Space Dish | direct | 600 Gm |
| Deep-Space Relay | relay | 600 Gm |