Adding new satellites to Stellarium

[george7378]

Hi everyone,

I quite fancy my chances at seeing a geostationary satellite constellation when my new scope comes, but the satellites don't seem to be in Stellarium's default satellite plugin database. I have found that you can add them by editing the satellites.json file, but you have to do it manually and it is a pain. Do you know of any other ways, or other programs for geosationary satellite tracking?

Thanks.

[Glider]

JPL/Horizons Parser for Stellarium

HORIZONS Web-Interface

These allow you to add new objects, not sure if artificial satellites are on the list though.

[Daggerstab]

These allow you to add new objects, not sure if artificial satellites are on the list though.

No, no artificial satellites there, only Solar System bodies. The Satellites plug-in uses separate lists, not the Solar System model. The satellite hints are overlaid onto the sky (like all other objects in Stellarium, actually).

Gpredict has been developed for Linux, but I see that it has a Windows build:

Gpredict: Free, Real-Time Satellite Tracking and Orbit Prediction Software

I haven't tried it on Windows, though.

The Satellites plug-in really should have an option to add new satellites (or at least pick names from the update files), but its developer seems to be rather busy in the moment - I haven't seen him in Stellarium's developer mailing list for some time.