UPDATE: New Google Earth tracking files for Space Telescopes are now up.
Hot on the heels of putting all the SCUBA data onto Google Sky, I am now sharing some Google Earth goodies. The KML files below will allow you to view the location of any satellite on Google Earth with latitude, longitude and altitude positions updated every 30 seconds.
These Google Earth overlays use the NORAD two-line element (TLE) datasets that are published via the Celestrak website and are used by satellite enthusiasts the world over. I could not find them for Google Earth so have made them available myself.
There are three files that can be downloaded:
1) ISS Locator – A simple file that just tracks the position of the most popular and asked after satellite, the manned International Space Station. Shows the next 2 hours of flight path and the approximate size of the viewing horizon of the ISS (i.e. the area of the Earth’s surface for which the ISS is potentially visible).
2) 100+ Brightest Objects – This file uses Celestrak’s 100 or so brightest objects TLE file to show the locations on Google Earth of between 100-200 of the better known and easier to spot satellites.
3) Advanced Tracker – By default this KML file tracks the ISS from the 100+ file above. However it allows you to change the source TLE and satellite ID to any that you like, thus making it the first Google Earth addition that allows you to track any satellite at all! Instructions are found in the file by clicking its name in Google Earth. This layer also shows the viewing horizon and 2 hour flight path.
Download ISS Locator, 100+ Brightest Objects and Advanced Tracker.
Download All three files together in a zipped archive.
it seems doesn’t work now.
Your links for the ISS are not working in google earth
These files became very popular for a while and my server had a bit of a fit. Should be better now, but if you find this isn’t working then just try again in 60 minutes or so. Glad so many of you are enjoying them.
How can I add the complete link to the amateur satellites tle.txt url ?
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt
Thanks in advance
Maury, Italy
Maury: you download the Advanced Tracker file. Open it in Google Earth then right-click on the file in your My Places list and add
?id=XXXXX&url=http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt
to the end, where XXXXX is the ID of the Satellite you wish to track that is found in the .txt file at that url.
Hello, can you give me reiterate how TLE install the file to see amateur radio satellites from the page http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt file with the “100 Brightest Objects”?
Thank you and best wishes
Stéphane
HB9TPS
Is it possible to add the ATV-1 Jules Verne (id 32686) in one of the .pl files in order to track it with Google earth ?
Thanks
Jean-Paul: Yes, open up the Advanced Tracker and then modify the ‘Link’ text box under ‘More Info’ on Google Earth so that it reads:
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=32686&url=http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/stations.txt
instead of:
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=20580
Thanks…
Hello
I have an other question, is it possible to change the icon for the ATV-1, ISS and for the Shuttle ?
For example using the 3D models available in the google databank ?
Have a nice day
Hmm… I don’t see why not. My code generates their position, but how that information is parsed into a KML file is wide open. I shall look into it.
Hi ttfnRob,
Appreciate the work you’ve put in.
Request your advise on whether it is possible to key in one’s GPS coords & have GEarth display the passing by satellites above you?
Best,
wirefree
thank you, i follow iss and nasa , is a great tool, john
Hi,
First of all thanks for ISS Locator, 100 Brightest Objects and Advanced Tracker in Google. I have been using them for a month now.
Since about a week I have had this message in Google Earth concerning the “100 Broghtest satellites”:
Fetch of Networklink “100 Brightest Satellites” failed: (http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/100loc.pl): Parse error at line 2779, column 0: no element found.
Regards.
Alain.
Alain, thanks for the heads up. Turns out someone or something has been fiddling with my files. I am working to correct the problem. When it is fixed, I shall post here.
All three KML files and scripts have been updated. you’ll now see no more ‘Directions…’ links and the error with the 100 Brightest Satellites link has been corrected. sorry for the problems.
On the 100 brightest objects, could you possibly change the KML file so the objects do not extend to the ground? I tried changing it in Google Earth, but it resets every time it refreshes.
Hi Rob,
since your last update things where going smoothly. However in the past week or so I am not getting tracking on any of the three files (actually it worked the day before yesterday, but neither yesterday nor today) and I am not getting any error message. Could there be a limit in accessing the server? I am looking forward to using ISS Locator when NASA next launch of the shuttle. Thanks to have included altitude in the ISS Locator.
Regards.
Alain.
hi,
thanks a lot for the work, i included these files to google earth, but nothing happens, i don’t see anything. No ISS, no Satelites. Is this a client or a server problem?
thanks in advance
baster
Hi Rob,
I join the previous comment and thank you for your work. As of today: Monday 2008/05/19 10:00am in France I am getting again tracks for all three kml files.
Have a good day.
Alain.
In response to those asking why the files sometimes don’t work: Yes, the files often ‘break’. This is usually down to one of three things:
Most commonly, it is that the TLE data includes a satellite which cannot be displayed on Google Earth for some reason. I am working to correct this error in a future iteration of the scripts that power these files.
Secondly, it can sometimes be that my servers are having maintenance performed and the scripts go loopy for an hour or so.
Finally and least likely is that your IP address is out of favour with my hosting site due to a very high number of calls. Some people who use the script a lot, or for thousands of satellites, or a very fast refresh rate, have been blacklisted my my hosting company. If this is the case you will also have trouble accessing this website from the same computer.
Thanks all for your comments, emails and twitters about these files, its good to know they are appreciated. I work on them from time to time and am planning to fix the main error this week at some point.
Hi Rob,
thanks for your explanation. ISS locator and Satellite Locator are always on when my Google Earth is on, which is most of the day. Although I have never modified the original refresh rate in those files would that be considered by your server as an excessive usage? If so what would be recognized as an acceptable usage. This use is particularly so when there is some special event related to ISS, as a shuttle launch, an ATM or Soyouz rendez-vous.
Regards.
Alain.
Except this morning for a brief amount of time I have not used Google earth, hence the satellite files. Connecting today 2008/05/19 at 18:35 France I am not getting any tracking.
I give up.
Regards.
Alain Desson.
That shouldn’t be taken as excessive usage. The problem is on my server, which is giving me headaches recently, but what can you do? This is all just a bit of fun for me, and is starting to feel like hard work. They’ll be fixed when they are fixed.
Does anyone know a god way of hosting perl scripts online other than on one’s own server?
Hi Rob,
I didn’t mean to complain. If I gave you that impression I apologize. On my end I feel powerless. I can well imagine you have a lot on your plate with your site, your studies + everything else. I am grateful for the work you do. And as far as your question for hosting your perl script on another server I can’t help. Sorry.
Regards.
Alain.
Hello I’m trying to use sattelite tracker with norad sbas.txt to track PRN 120 (id 24307) for example and I have a problem with the altitude wich seems to be 100 time greather than normal.
How can I do ?
Thanks in advance
It’s me again, in fact every things OK I’ve forgot that a geo sat is 36 000 km. May be I need some hollydays….
Have a nice day
Hello
A little question about the horizon presented when a geo satellite is selected because the circle is less than the one presented for ISS (for example). Is the altitude taken into account is the computing of the circle ?
Have a nice day
Jean Paul: Yes, that’s correct. The higher the object, the larger the horizon size. The horizon is simply the part of the Earth which the object can ’see’.
it works fine
give me the satellite downloder :pleas
Hi Rob,
I found this page looking for TLE information and SGP(4) calculations.
You have done a great job with these scripts. Congrats!
I do have a few question, though:
1. I noticed you use different scripts and probably with different calculations each, as the results vary and the same satellite is positioned at different places and sometimes with different paths.
i.e. ISS Zarya:
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=25544
lags behind by about 5 minutes and on a slightly different path than
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/issloc.pl
2. The horizon circle breaks at the date/time line, and I also noticed it to break at the south pole in a weird way.
3. Why are the horizons for the geostationary satellites, i.e. http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=20315&url=http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/geo.txt (INTELSAT 602 (IS-602)) so small if the satellite is way up there (Current altitude: 35782.69 km)?
Kind regards,
Robi
@Robi I’ll take your queries in order:
1) Other than stylisticly, anyloc.pl and sciloc.pl are identical. The time lag is just a refresh rate effect from Google Earth. The path difference could be a difference in length or a difference in the source data TLEs from Celestrak. I’ll double check this at some point to be sure.
2) The dateline/poles issue is annoying but I haven’t figured it out yet.
3) For very high objects such as those, the horizon can be larger than the Earth. When this happens they seem to artificially wrap around apparently seeming small again. I suppose I could fix this by setting the maximum horizon as the circumference of the Earth. Will give it a go sometime.
Fantastic work.
I’m using it to track Earth Observation Satellites. I will not go to up to 100, of course, just about 30, with a refresh rate of 15 sec. I hope this is ok and not abusive.
Is there anyway to change the color of the line? I tried adding &col=XXXX where X is hexadecimal value, but it didn’t work.
btw, It would be a very good idea to display, instead of the horizon, a square representing the area covered by the sensor. I don’t know if that would be possible, adding some kml that’s reads the data coming from the network link. I will have to investigate that.
But again, fantastic work!
Everythings is possible
Just a suggestion…
Can you add the id number to the satellite info in the 100 brightest objects? That way it could be cut and pasted to the id of the Satellite Locator. (Or provide an option to highlight one of the 100 objects and automatically get in the Satellite Locator.)
Hi Rob,
This is great stuff you do.
I noticed the Iridium locator is not working. The network link loads in Google Earth, but it does not display.
This is the link I am using
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=ALL&url=http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/iridium.txt&path=N&hor=N
I haven’t used it for a few months so I am not sure if something has changed or if I have done something stupid?
Kind regards,
Phil
I see that Japan launched a heavy transport vehicle yesterday, but I can’t find a catalog number to use in the software. For that matter, I’m not sure if I can even find it on a database once the number is found. Any suggestions?
TNX
ROOF!
BTW,
The software works super for me. I love to use it for tracking Amateur Radio satellites. I check out the next 24 hours on Heavens-above.com and load the numbers into the properties:link; script …..Presto.
TNX AGN
Woof.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for creating and sharing your ISS and Satellite locator KML’s for Google Earth. The graphics and functionality are really nice. I hope you can help me fix a problem with it, though.
The position shown for the ISS on my system is grossly inaccurate, disagreeing with all of the online real-time trackers that I can find.
Also, I visually observed the ISS and Shuttle pass overhead from my location two nights ago and the other trackers were right-on, while this one was way off.
I have double checked my system time & date settings and GE time & date, and everything looks right. It is refreshing every 30 seconds, as prescribed. Is there a problem with your server? Perhaps it is using old TLE data? Please let me know.
BTW, if you have a DirecTV HD receiver connected to the internet, check out my ISS Orbital Tracking TV App.
Best wishes,
Jason Glass
Hi Again, Robert,
FYI, the Advanced Tracker is dead-on accurate when set to show the ISS. The graphic settings and icon on the ISS Locator are much more pleasing, though.
Also, it appears that the ISS Locator display might possibly be showing the location around an hour behind real-time. I hope the problem is that simple!
Best always,
Jason Glass
Hi Robert,
I’m interested in learning about the math behind the work you’ve done. Can you share your Perl scripts, or are they proprietary? If not, what is a good reference for a beginner? I’m interested in the basics, like can the horizon footprint be calculated from the latitude, longitude, and altitude values of a satellite, or would I need other values from the TLE file?
thanks
Marc Tremblay
Hi Robert, I was curios to see how it works and since I am GPS user I was trying to see where the GPS satellites are. I put this into Google Earth: http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=ALL&url=http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/gps-ops.txt but it seem not working for me. There is no sign of any satellites. Can you please suggest what am I doing wrong?
BR, Emil
Hi Rob,
Like Pablo I’m interested in tracking NASA Earth Observation Satellites. And I would track the Shuttle missions. Are there KML files for these or do I need a separate file of TLEs for these? Above I see mention of TLE files for GPS and Iridium where does one find these?
Best Regards SGLS
Great stuff … South Africa’s newest satellite Sumbandila is now trackable in GE … thanx
http://orbitingfrog.com/cgi-bin/anyloc.pl?id=35870&url=http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/science.txt&hor=Y&extrude=Y&path=1.5
I’m sitting here in the Main Control Room at ESOC and we’re in the middle of a simulation of the first 12 hours of the CryoSat mission (to be launched next February). We’re in-between ground-station passes at the moment. We have a display on one of the the main screens showing a 2-D map with the satellite and our ground stations (I’m sure you’ve seen the sort of thing before). I was looking for something which could do the job in Google Earth and found this.
However, it’s not quite what we need — the satellite hasn’t been launched yet so there are no publicly available TLE’s. We have a local file with a TLE offset in time from the future launch date to the epoch right now. Can I make this work? It would also be good to have more rapid updates (e.g. once per second)
Richard
I can’t wait for Google Moon and Google Mars to be released.
The GE plugin works fine. But it works on mars and moon too! Very funny.
WOW. I am speechless? you ROCK. I hope this goes far and wide, you deserve it.
The ISS Locator isn’t working for me for some reason… what am I doing wrong?