Graphic Display of Satellite Ground Tracks and Orbits

MATLAB script named satplot.m that demonstrates how to graphically display satellite ground tracks and orbits.

This submission is a MATLAB script named satplot that demonstrates how to graphically display satellite ground tracks and orbits. This MATLAB script can be used to create the following types of graphic displays:

• ground track – rectangular display

• orbit and/or ground track – orthographic display

This script propagates a satellite orbit using Kozai’s analytic method which includes the perturbation due to the contribution of the Earth’s gravity field.

The following is a typical input data file for this script.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

% satplot simulation definition input data file

% satplot1.in July 26, 2025

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

initial epoch

-------------

initial calendar date (1 <= month <= 12, 1 <= day <= 31, year = all digits!)

12,21,2012

initial utc time (0 <= hours <= 24, 0 <= minutes <= 60, 0 <= seconds <= 60)

10,20,30

initial classical orbital elements

----------------------------------

semimajor axis (semimajor axis > 0; kilometers)

26553

orbital eccentricity (0 <= eccentricity < 1; non-dimensional)

0.737

orbital inclination (0 <= inclination <= 180; degrees)

63.4

argument of perigee (0 <= argument of perigee <= 360; degrees)

270

right ascension of the ascending node (0 <= raan <= 360; degrees)

100

true anomaly (0 <= true anomaly <= 360; degrees)

0

graphics menu

-------------

1 = ground track - rectangular display

2 = orbit and/or ground track - orthographic display

1

simulation duration in days

1

display step size in minutes

1

viewpoint latitude (-90 <= latitude <= +90; degrees)

40

viewpoint longitude (-180 <= longitude <= +180; degrees)

0

latitude grid spacing (0 <= grid <= 90; degrees)

30

longitude grid spacing (0 <= longitude <= 180; degrees)

60

display the ground track (1 = yes, 0 = no)

1

display the orbit (1 = yes, 0 = no)

0