Orbitrack for iOS lets you explore spacecraft in orbit using augmented and virtual reality. From the original developer of the SkySafari apps, Orbitrack 2.2 includes new graphics, detailed 3D spacecraft models, illustrated mission descriptions, and a database of more than 8,000 satellites updated daily from n2yo.com and celestrak.com.
Orbitrack includes many classified military satellites, and SpaceX’s new Starlink mega-communications-satellite constellation. Both visual and radio observers will appreciate Orbitrack’s up-to-date catalog, which includes frequencies and call signs for amateur radio satellites, and predicts satellite passes and Iridium flares.
Orbitrack’s new voice-controlled virtual reality mode works with any iPhone-compatible VR headset. And its rewritten augmented reaiity (AR) capability lets you identify satellites passing across the sky in real time, using you phone’s GPS, camera, and motion-sensing hardware.
Southern Stars founder Tim DeBenedictis writes, “When Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, there were only 159 satellite in orbit. Today, there are well over 40,000. The computing power of the entire lunar module would be dwarfed by today’s smallest cell phones.”
You can download Orbitrack for iOS devices from the iTunes Store. Orbitrack will be available for Android in the 2nd half of 2019.
