3D orbit — Earth-centred inertial
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Ground track — Earth-fixed
Bold = current revolution · faded = earlier revolutions
- Semi-major axis
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- Eccentricity
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- Inclination
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- Orbital period
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- Perigee altitude
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- Apogee altitude
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- Current altitude
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- Current speed
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- Latitude
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- Longitude
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- Elapsed (simulated)
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- Revolutions
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Try this in class
- Start at e = 0. Speed is constant and the track is a clean sinusoid.
- Raise e to about 0.2 — the ellipse appears and the speed readout starts to breathe.
- Push e to 0.6 or more. The satellite whips through perigee and crawls near apogee.
- Change inclination — the track's latitude limits follow it (±i, or ±180°−i above 90°).
- Let it run for several revolutions: each pass shifts west because the Earth turned underneath.
- Load Molniya-like and watch the long northern dwell that a circular orbit cannot give.