Cosmolabe
An interactive 3D viewer for spacecraft missions, built for the browser.
Explore trajectories, instrument fields of view, planetary surfaces and mission
events; move through mission time and inspect eclipses or close approaches in 3D
and on a shared timeline. Cosmolabe loads SPICE kernels, TLEs and sampled trajectory
data through JSON catalogs, with a standalone viewer and reusable TypeScript libraries.
Try the viewer ·
Get started · Catalog format ·
Architecture
Watch the 24-second Clipper flyby ·
Download MP4
Jupiter emerges behind Europa before a pullback to the system, with a rendered
wide-angle instrument view. FOVs come from instrument kernels; pointing is
illustrative and target-facing, without CK attitude coverage.
What you can do
- Explore a mission: load an example or your own catalog; follow spacecraft
and planets, and inspect trajectories, instruments and terrain.
- Find and visualize events: search for closest approaches, eclipses,
occultations and distance windows. Explore results in 3D, with event intervals and geometry plots on the timeline.
- Measure geometry: distances, directions and angles between spacecraft,
bodies and chosen locations.
- Share and automate views: share supported viewer states,
script camera and time changes, or drive the renderer from a host application.
Select a spacecraft or body to inspect or follow it. Tools open in movable panels,
while the bottom timeline shows time, event windows and geometry plots.
See workflow details and data requirements.
Getting started
Launch the hosted viewer and choose an example catalog.
To run locally, use Node.js 20+ and install Git LFS before
cloning to download tracked binary assets:
git clone https://github.com/AaronPlave/cosmolabe.git
cd cosmolabe
npm install
npm run build
npm --prefix apps/viewer run dev
Open the URL printed by Vite. Analytical examples need no SPICE kernels; mission
examples may need additional downloads, and generated terrain needs local setup.
See asset prerequisites and
development commands.
Example missions
| Example | Explore |
|---|
| Europa Clipper | Europa encounters, spacecraft model and instrument FOVs |
| Cassini Saturn Tour | Saturn orbit insertion, Titan and Enceladus encounters |
| LRO at the Moon | Lunar orbit, terrain and imagery |
| ISS (TLE) | Satellite propagation without SPICE |
| Psyche | An interplanetary cruise trajectory |
| Earth–Moon Scripted Tour | Scripted camera, time and display changes |
Browse the full catalog index or
configure another catalog source.
Gallery
| LRO — lunar terrain and imagery | Cassini — Saturn orbit insertion |
|---|
| |
| Clipper — instrument FOV | Measurements — Clipper to Europa |
| |
Event Finder — closest approach and distance profiles
Ingenuity at Jezero; requires a locally generated fused terrain product.
Plan surface data fidelity and estimate storage offline
with versioned planetary GeoJSON plans, independent imagery/elevation targets and
local source metadata.
Capture recipes, the scripted Moon tour and video recreation.
Architecture and embedding
Use the standalone viewer, embed its complete workspace in any web page — with
spacecraft state, activities, time and selection supplied by the host
(embedding guide, reference host) —
or build on the TypeScript packages directly.
The viewer combines a queryable universe model with injected SPICE/frame services
and a renderer; core and control have no rendering or DOM dependencies.
Catalogs support a subset of Cosmographia definitions plus Cosmolabe extensions;
CCSDS format support is scoped to the implementations in Interop.
See architecture and compatibility details,
choosing a renderer and the roadmap.
Attribution, contributing and license
Named after Jacques Besson's 1566 cosmolabe.
The catalog format derives from NASA JPL's
Cosmographia, created by
Chris Laurel, author of Celestia.
Cosmolabe uses CSPICE compiled to WebAssembly via cspice-wasm, accessed
through @cosmolabe/frames, Three.js,
3DTilesRendererJS,
CesiumJS and
satellite.js.
Independent SPICE expectations and test coverage are documented in
SPICE validation. Component and data attribution,
including historical reference provenance, is retained in NOTICE.
Contributing · Code of conduct ·
Security reporting · Apache-2.0 license
This software is independently developed and maintained, and is not approved or
endorsed by NASA or JPL.
