Curious Pilot — Satellite Visibility Simulator

No flight track has been loaded.

Use the Load Flight button in the Aircraft panel to load a flight track before using the playback controls.

Curious Pilot replays real aircraft flights and simulates the view from the cockpit — a real-time visualization of satellites, celestial objects, and the earth below, as the pilot would have seen it.

It also works from any ground location.

Satellite brightness is predicted using SGP4 orbital propagation, solar illumination geometry, and the McCants/Stellarium magnitude model.

Curious Pilot integrates several different data sources to recreate what pilots and ground observers see in the night sky.

Satellite Orbital Parameters

CelesTrak provides current orbital parameters for approximately 12,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites. These parameters are used with the SGP4 propagation algorithm to compute each satellite's position in real time. Only LEO satellites are included because higher-altitude objects are too faint to see with the naked eye.

Satellite Brightness

The Stellarium community satellite database supplies standard visual magnitude values. Combined with solar illumination geometry and observer distance, these are used to predict how bright each satellite appears—the McCants/Stellarium magnitude model.

Flight Tracks

The OpenSky Network provides historical ADS-B flight track data. Given an aircraft’s ICAO24 hex code and a date, the app retrieves the recorded flight path including position, altitude, and heading. A free OpenSky account is required.

Earth at Night

NASA’s Black Marble imagery (VIIRS Day/Night Band) from the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) provides the nighttime ground texture showing city lights as seen from above.

Daytime Imagery

ESRI World Imagery satellite photography is used for the daytime ground plane, switching automatically based on solar illumination at the observer’s location.

Magnetic Declination

The British Geological Survey World Magnetic Model 2025 web service provides magnetic declination values, enabling display of magnetic headings alongside true headings.

Map Tiles

CartoDB and OpenTopoMap provide the map tiles used in the location picker.

Curious Pilot has two modes, controlled by the Observer Mode switch at the upper left: Ground Mode for observing from a fixed location, and Aircraft Mode for replaying a real flight.

Ground Mode — Enter your location (or search by name), set the date/time, and press Play. Visible satellites appear as moving dots on the sky dome.

Aircraft Mode — Enter an ICAO24 hex code, date, and time window, then click Load Flight. The app replays the flight path and shows satellites visible from the aircraft.

Note that historic flight data is obtained from OpenSky Network, which requires you to register for free for API access. The developer has no relationship with OpenSky and receives no compensation.

Controls — Drag the sky to look around. Use the heading and elevation sliders for precise aiming. The magnitude filter limits which satellites are shown.

Satellite Info — Click the “x satellites visible” count at the upper left to see a list of visible satellites with details.

Satellite Data — The Update Satellite Data button at the bottom of the controls area fetches the latest orbital parameters from CelesTrak. CelesTrak is a free, widely used public service that provides up-to-date orbital parameters for tracked objects in Earth orbit. The app tracks roughly 12,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. Only LEO satellites are included because higher-altitude satellites are too faint to see with the naked eye. Satellite data is cached locally and only re-fetched when you click the button.

Shortcut Keys

`T`	True heading
`M`	Magnetic heading
`E`	Emphasized satellite display
`R`	Realistic satellite display
`C`	Toggle highlight circle
`N`	Toggle satellite names
`L`	Toggle satellite lines
`O`	Toggle constellations
`D`	Toggle dome
`F`	Toggle full screen

Version 1.2

April 20, 2026

Renamed "About" link to "Settings"
Added Data tab identifying the 8 external data sources used by the app
Added Settings tab with controls for: satellite data update, heading reference (True/Magnetic), satellite display mode (Emphasized/Realistic), satellite annotations (circle, name, lines), and view options (constellations, dome, full screen)
Clicking a satellite in the visible list now blinks its highlight circle 4 times
Renamed "Show trails" to "Show lines"
Added dome grid toggle (Show dome / D shortcut key)
Full screen control now uses a checkbox consistent with other settings
Added Shortcut Keys reference to the Help tab

Version 1.1

April 19, 2026

Clicking a satellite in the visible satellites list now centers it in the view

Version 1.0

April 18, 2026

Initial release

Philip Giacalone is an aerospace engineer and software developer whose technical career has spanned spacecraft propulsion systems, autonomous drones, and Silicon Valley software startups.

Send a message →

Your Email (optional)

Your email address will only be used to reply.

Message

In order to recreate the track of almost any aircraft flight, Curious Pilot relies on OpenSky's online data service. It provides access to historic flight data spanning decades and covering millions of past flights. Access to this data requires a free credential from OpenSky, which you can get by clicking the button below.

Note that OpenSky applies a daily credit limit to API requests, which is automatically refreshed daily.

Satellite Orbital Parameters

Satellite Brightness

Flight Tracks

Earth at Night

Daytime Imagery

Magnetic Declination

Map Tiles

Satellite Data

Heading Reference

Satellite Display

Satellite Annotations

Moon

View

Shortcut Keys