EOS Globe Tracker

Note: This project is currently a work in progress.

A web app for visualizing Earth Observation System (EOS) satellite trajectories on an interactive 3D Earth globe, built with Django, React, and react-globe.gl.

Overview

This project tracks Earth Resources satellites (e.g., SCD 1, TECHSAT 1B, DLR-TUBSAT) using Two-Line Element (TLE) data from Celestrak. The backend fetches and processes satellite positions, while the frontend (to be implemented) will display these satellites on a 3D globe with their orbits and trailing trajectories.

Current Status

• Backend: Fully implemented using Django and Django REST Framework.
  • Fetches TLE data from Celestrak (GROUP=resource).
  • Computes satellite positions, orbits, and trails using Skyfield.
  • Exposes an API endpoint at /api/satellites/.
• Frontend: Not yet implemented (planned for React with react-globe.gl).

Project Structure

• backend/: Django backend for fetching and processing satellite data.
  • pyproject.toml: Poetry configuration for dependencies.
  • eos_tracker/: Django project directory.
  • satellites/: Django app for satellite tracking API.
• frontend/: React frontend (to be implemented).
• README.md: Project documentation.

Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13
• Node.js 18+
• Poetry (for Python dependency management)

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

   cd backend

2. Install dependencies using Poetry:

   poetry install

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   poetry shell

4. Apply Django migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

5. Run the Django development server:

   python manage.py runserver

6. Access the API at http://localhost:8000/api/satellites/.

Frontend Setup

The frontend is not yet implemented. See the roadmap.md for next steps.

API Endpoints

• GET /api/satellites/: Returns a list of Earth Resources satellites with their positions, orbits, and trails.
  • Example Response:

    {
      "satellites": [
        {
          "name": "SCD 1",
          "latitude": 10.234,
          "longitude": -50.678,
          "altitude": 750.2,
          "velocity": 7.3,
          "orbit": [[10.234, -50.678], ...],
          "trail": [[10.200, -50.650], ...]
        },
        ...
      ]
    }

Dependencies

• Backend:
  • Django 5.0
  • Django REST Framework 3.15
  • Requests 2.31
  • Skyfield 1.48
  • Django CORS Headers (for frontend-backend communication)

License

MIT License (see LICENSE file for details).

Author

Carlos Melo carlos@sigmoidal.ai