Tracking objects in space is one of the most critical and delicate activities. There are many things up there, and if something goes wrong, we need to know. But this is no longer exclusive to experts. With a good dose of DIY and open data available online, anyone can watch satellites and stations. In July we shared a project that tracks the International Space Station. Today it is the turn of Satellite Tracker, which with the help of a Raspberry Pi lets us follow satellites within a cylinder with a radius of 200 kilometers.
It is estimated that there are just over 4,800 satellites in orbit, of which 1,980 are active. Among the rest we find some backup systems, but in most cases, they are space junk. In addition to size and speed, this junk also causes problems because of its properties. Several satellites were designed with nuclear reactors as their main power source, and they remain up there... waiting. Logically, nobody wants a nuclear reactor to fall on their head (this has already happened, search for "Kosmos 954"), and until recovery becomes viable, we must track every satellite. The good news? You can turn this task into your next DIY project, and I admit it looks great:
Satellite Tracker: A "3D Map" of Satellites in Orbit
Satellite Tracker is a creation of Paul Klinger, who published the first technical details in the Space section of Reddit. The system is based on a series of custom PCBs with WS2812B LED lights and diffusers. These lights form a kind of cylinder, whose radius equals 200 kilometers. At the same time, each group of lights represents an altitude level. A small screen at the bottom presents precise data (obtained thanks to the space-track.org API) about the satellites in orbit. The general software was written in Python, whose execution is handled by a Raspberry Pi 3B+.
All the code needed to create your own Satellite Tracker is available on GitHub, and that includes the files that let us print the case in 3D. Paul used the manufacturing service Seeed to obtain the custom PCBs with their components already soldered, which is not exactly cheap ($200 for the five PCBs, although only four are needed). Therefore, it might be better to modify each PCB a little to facilitate the installation of the lights by hand. Another recommendation he makes is to use threaded rods on the pillars.
