Constellation Design Calculator

Satellite count for global coverage from altitude and inclination.

Orbital altitude (km)

Min elevation angle (deg)

Orbital inclination (deg)

Coverage overlap margin (%)

Tab to move between fields

Satellites per plane

Number of planes

Total satellites

Coverage half-angle (deg)53.61

Orbital period (min)95.5

Orbital velocity (km/s)7.59

Max latitude covered (deg)53

Cos Lambda Plus Elev0.4

How to Use This Calculator

Enter orbital altitude (km) and minimum elevation angle (degrees) for acceptable coverage.
Set orbital inclination (degrees) and coverage overlap margin (%) for redundancy.
Review coverage half-angle, satellites per orbital plane, number of planes, and total satellite count.
Use orbital period and revisit interval to verify coverage continuity meets mission requirements.
Increasing altitude reduces satellite count but increases launch cost and coverage latency.

How the result changes with Min elevation angle (deg)

Min elevation angle (deg)	Satellites per plane	Number of planes	Total satellites
11	5	3	15
24	350	175	61,250
41	350	175	61,250
55	350	175	61,250

Orbital altitude (km): Circular orbit altitude above Earth's surface. LEO: 200-2000 km, MEO: 2000-35786 km.
Min elevation angle (deg): Minimum elevation above horizon for usable signal. Lower = wider coverage but weaker link. Typical: 5-25 deg.
Orbital inclination (deg): Orbit inclination. 53 deg covers most populated areas. 90 deg (polar) for global coverage including poles.
Coverage overlap margin (%): Extra overlap between adjacent coverage footprints to ensure seamless handoff.

Coverage half-angle (deg): Ground footprint half-angle from the sub-satellite point.
Satellites per plane: Minimum satellites in each orbital plane for along-track coverage.
Number of planes: Minimum orbital planes for cross-track coverage.
Total satellites: Total constellation size (planes x satellites per plane).
Orbital period (min): Time for one complete orbit.
Orbital velocity (km/s): Spacecraft speed in circular orbit.
Max latitude covered (deg): Highest latitude that receives coverage (equals inclination for prograde orbits).

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Orbital altitude (km) = 550, Min elevation angle (deg) = 10, Orbital inclination (deg) = 53, Coverage overlap margin (%) = 10 = 4 input(s) provided
Calculate Satellites per plane
Satellites per plane
4 = 4
Calculate Number of planes
Number of planes
2 = 2
Calculate Total satellites
Total satellites
8 = 8
Calculate Coverage half-angle
Coverage half-angle = lambdaRad * RAD2DEG
53.61 = 53.61
Calculate Orbital period
Orbital period = periodSec / 60
95.5 = 95.5