Design satellite constellations by specifying coverage requirements, orbit parameters, and mission constraints. Get optimized plane/satellite counts with cost estimates.
Define your constellation coverage goals and orbital parameters. The tool calculates the minimum number of orbital planes and satellites needed using Walker constellation formulas.
Southern coverage limit
Northern coverage limit
Maximum time between successive passes over any point
LEO range: 300-2000 km (lower = more drag, higher = larger swath)
Minimum angle above the horizon for usable coverage (higher = smaller footprint but better link quality)
Adjust satellite mass to estimate launch and operations costs. Launch pricing based on Falcon 9 rideshare rates (~$5,000/kg). Operations costs scale with satellite complexity.
Dry mass per satellite (CubeSat ~10kg, small sat ~100kg, medium ~300kg)
| Item | Per Unit | Quantity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch cost (100 kg x $5K/kg) | $500K | 28 | $14.0M |
| Annual operations | $2.0M/sat/yr | 28 | $56.0M/yr |
| 5-year operations | - | 5 years | $280.0M |
| 5-Year Total (Launch + Ops) | - | - | $294.0M |
Note: These are rough order-of-magnitude estimates. Actual costs vary significantly based on launch vehicle selection, rideshare opportunities, satellite manufacturing scale, and ground segment architecture. Use the Launch Cost Calculator for detailed per-launch pricing with specific vehicles.
The coverage swath is derived from the Earth central angle visible from orbit at the minimum elevation angle. The nadir angle is found from: cos(elev + nadir) = (R_E / (R_E + h)) * cos(elev), where h is the orbit altitude and elev is the minimum elevation angle. The Earth central angle is then: lambda = arcsin(R_E / (R_E + h)) - nadir.
Swath width S = 2 * R_E * lambda (in km), where R_E = 6,371 km. The angular swath S_deg = 2 * lambda (in degrees).
For global coverage, the number of orbital planes N_planes = ceil(360 / (S_deg * cos(lat_max))), accounting for convergence of ground tracks at higher latitudes. Satellites per plane N_sats = ceil(360 / S_deg) to ensure continuous along-track coverage.
Walker notation i:T/P/F describes the constellation with inclination i, total satellites T, number of planes P, and relative phasing F. Inter-plane spacing = 360/P degrees of RAAN.