Observation Planning

Predict, confirm, and avoid satellite crossings

Plan satellite-free observations for any location, time window, and field of view; see which satellites are up; or confirm your suspected satellite detection.

Observer node

Geodetic position

Latitude Observer latitude in degrees

Longitude Observer longitude in degrees

Elevation (m) Elevation above sea level

Field of view

Search cone

FoV RA Right Ascension in degrees

FoV Dec Declination in degrees

FoV radius (arcmin) Radius of the field of view

Observation window

Search interval

Start time (UTC) YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss

Window duration (min) Total search duration

Expected observing time (min) Exposure time to optimize

Filters and output

Diagnostics

Illuminated only Only satellites illuminated by the Sun

LEO only Limit to Low Earth Orbit satellites

Plot FoV Satellite trajectories in FoV

Plot time series Generate time-series diagnostic plot

Telemetry and orbit sources

Catalog source

Backend Use local files or SatChecker API

Parallel queries Used by SatChecker API

TLE source Used by SatChecker API

Skip health check Reduce SatChecker startup latency

TLE group for local backend Local TLE file used for propagation

Propagates the catalog across the search window and returns crossing events.

Verification · Optional

Validate observed satellite

Match a recorded detection against the catalog to confirm the crossing identity.

Measured state

Single epoch

Latitude Observer latitude in degrees

Longitude Observer longitude in degrees

Altitude (m) Elevation above sea level

RA (deg) Measured Right Ascension

Dec (deg) Measured Declination

FoV radius (arcmin) Radius of the field of view

Time (UTC) YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss

NORAD ID Catalog number of the observed satellite

Compares the measured state against the propagated catalog at the given epoch.