Astronomy is a branch of science that deals with the study of celestial objects (including stars, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, meteor showers, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and other phenomena.
Astronomy is particularly well suited to the layperson. It’s a wonderful hobby which has almost no age limits, it is open to individuals of all financial means, and there is always the potential for an amateur to discover something that has eluded professional astronomers, or to help monitor stars and track asteroids. Even with the unaided eye, there is much to study in the night sky including constellations, shooting stars, planets, and of course the moon, the Earth’s only natural satellite.
There are satellites that are much nearer than the moon. Artificial satellites are man-made objects placed in orbit around a celestial body, typically Earth, to serve various purposes like communication, weather monitoring, and scientific research.
This roundup focuses on Linux software that let you track artificial satellites from your Linux terminal and desktop. Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Let’s explore the tools in more detail. For each tool, we’ve written a page describes its main features together with a screenshot of the program in action.
| Satellite Tools | |
|---|---|
| Gpredict | Real-time satellite tracking and orbit prediction application |
| GNSS-SDR | Software-defined receiver for Global Navigation Satellite System signals |
| SatDump | Generic satellite data processing software |
| PreviSat | Satellite tracking software for observing purposes |
| SaVi | Simulates satellite orbits and coverage, in two and three dimensions |
| tracker | Real-time satellite tracks and orbit prediction |
| TLEscope | Satellite visualization tool |
| strf | Satellite tracking toolkit for radio observations |
| Satellite | Displays GNSS information obtained from NMEA sources |
| Ground Station | Satellite monitoring and radio communication suite |
| TermTrack | Track satellites in your terminal |
| OrbVis | View and propagate the full CelesTrak satellite catalog in realtime |
| Flyby | Tracks and predicts passes of satellites in Earth orbit |
| SatIntel | OSINT tool for satellite reconnaissance |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |