Orbital Mechanics Projects
Explore guided student projects in Orbital Mechanics. Build hands-on skills with real aerospace tools and data.
8 projects
Combine with other filters →Satellite Orbit Propagator
Predict where any satellite will be, minute by minute
Build an orbit propagator from scratch that takes TLE data and predicts satellite positions. Implement Keplerian mechanics and J2 perturbation in Python or MATLAB.
Start Project →Track the ISS with Ansys STK
See exactly when and where the space station will fly over your town.
Use the free Ansys STK software to model the International Space Station's orbit, generate ground tracks, and predict when it will be visible from your location. You will learn the fundamentals of orbital mechanics without writing a single line of code.
Start Project →Build an Orbital Simulator in Julia
Write the math that keeps satellites in orbit—from scratch.
Use the Julia programming language to numerically integrate the equations of motion for a satellite and animate its orbit around Earth. You will implement the two-body problem step by step, learning both the physics and the code as you go.
Start Project →Plot Satellite Orbits in MATLAB
Use MATLAB to compute and visualize Keplerian orbits and ground tracks from first principles.
Write MATLAB scripts that convert orbital elements (semi-major axis, eccentricity, inclination) to position vectors, plot 3D orbits around Earth, and generate ground tracks on a world map. Build intuition for how inclination and altitude shape a satellite's coverage.
Start Project → AI/MLNeural ODE Orbit Propagation with JAX
Let automatic differentiation learn orbital physics from trajectory data.
Use JAX's autodiff and ODE solvers to build a Neural ODE that learns satellite orbit dynamics purely from observed position/velocity data. You will compare the learned propagator against classical two-body and J2 models, and explore how the neural model captures unmodelled perturbations.
Start Project →Design a GPS Constellation in STK
Arrange satellites in space so no point on Earth loses navigation coverage.
Use Ansys STK to design, analyse, and iterate on a navigation satellite constellation for global positioning coverage. You will define orbital parameters for a Walker or custom constellation, compute coverage metrics and PDOP maps, and trade constellation size against coverage gaps to arrive at a justified design.
Start Project →Rocket Trajectory Optimization in Julia
Find the fuel-minimum path from launchpad to orbit — mathematically.
Use Julia's JuMP optimization framework with the Ipopt solver to formulate and solve a fuel-optimal rocket trajectory problem using direct collocation. You will transcribe the continuous-time optimal control problem into a nonlinear program, solve it for a single-stage rocket, and analyse how constraints on thrust and dynamic pressure shape the optimal solution.
Start Project → AI/MLSimulate Gravity with JAX
Watch planets orbit each other in a simulation you built from scratch
Use JAX to build a simple gravity simulator that models how two or three bodies orbit each other. Learn the basics of numerical integration and automatic differentiation while creating animated orbital plots.
Start Project →