Datasets Commands

Download and query satellite ephemeris data and ground station information.

Overview

The datasets command group provides access to: - CelesTrak - Satellite TLE (Two-Line Element) data - Ground Stations - Commercial ground station network databases

CelesTrak Commands

celestrak download

Download satellite ephemeris data from CelesTrak and save to file.

Syntax:

brahe datasets celestrak download <GROUP> <FILEPATH>

Arguments: - GROUP - Satellite group name (e.g., 'stations', 'starlink', 'gps-ops') - FILEPATH - Output file path for TLE data

Examples:

Download space station TLEs:

brahe datasets celestrak download stations ~/satellite_data/stations.txt

Download Starlink constellation:

brahe datasets celestrak download starlink ~/satellite_data/starlink.txt

Download GPS satellites:

brahe datasets celestrak download gps-ops ~/satellite_data/gps.txt

See available groups:

brahe datasets celestrak list-groups

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celestrak lookup

Look up a satellite by name and display its NORAD ID and TLE.

Syntax:

brahe datasets celestrak lookup <NAME>

Arguments: - NAME - Satellite name (partial match supported)

Examples:

Find ISS:

brahe datasets celestrak lookup "ISS"

Output:

ISS (ZARYA)
NORAD ID: 25544
TLE:
1 25544U 98067A   24001.12345678  .00001234  00000-0  12345-4 0  9991
2 25544  51.6400 123.4567 0001234  12.3456 347.8901 15.50000000123456

Find Hubble Space Telescope:

brahe datasets celestrak lookup "HST"

Find by partial name:

brahe datasets celestrak lookup "STARLINK"

(Shows first match)

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celestrak show

Display TLE information and computed orbital parameters for a satellite.

Syntax:

brahe datasets celestrak show <NORAD_ID>

Arguments: - NORAD_ID - NORAD catalog ID (integer)

Examples:

Show ISS TLE and orbit info:

brahe datasets celestrak show 25544

Output:

Satellite: ISS (ZARYA)
NORAD ID: 25544

TLE:
1 25544U 98067A   24001.12345678  .00001234  00000-0  12345-4 0  9991
2 25544  51.6400 123.4567 0001234  12.3456 347.8901 15.50000000123456

Orbital Parameters:
  Epoch:           2024-01-01 02:57:46 UTC
  Inclination:     51.6400°
  RAAN:            123.4567°
  Eccentricity:    0.0001234
  Arg. of Perigee: 12.3456°
  Mean Anomaly:    347.8901°
  Mean Motion:     15.50000000 rev/day

Computed:
  Period:          92.9 minutes
  Semi-major axis: 6797.1 km
  Apogee altitude: 420.2 km
  Perigee altitude: 417.1 km

Show GPS satellite:

brahe datasets celestrak show 32260

---

celestrak list-groups

List commonly used CelesTrak satellite groups.

Syntax:

brahe datasets celestrak list-groups

Examples:

brahe datasets celestrak list-groups

Output:

Available CelesTrak Groups:

  Navigation:
    gps-ops           - GPS Operational Satellites
    gps-ops-gl        - GLONASS Operational Satellites
    galileo           - Galileo Satellites
    beidou            - BeiDou Satellites

  Communication:
    starlink          - Starlink Constellation
    oneweb            - OneWeb Constellation
    iridium           - Iridium Satellites

  Earth Observation:
    resource          - Earth Resource Satellites
    weather           - Weather Satellites
    noaa              - NOAA Satellites

  Science:
    stations          - Space Stations (ISS, Tiangong)
    science           - Scientific Satellites

  Special Interest:
    active            - All Active Satellites
    analyst           - Analyst Satellites
    2024-launches     - 2024 Launches

---

celestrak search

Search for satellites by name pattern within a group.

Syntax:

brahe datasets celestrak search <GROUP> <PATTERN>

Arguments: - GROUP - Satellite group name - PATTERN - Name search pattern (case-insensitive)

Examples:

Search for Starlink satellites:

brahe datasets celestrak search starlink "1234"

Search for specific GPS satellite:

brahe datasets celestrak search gps-ops "GPS II"

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Ground Station Commands

groundstations list-providers

List available ground station providers.

Syntax:

brahe datasets groundstations list-providers

Examples:

brahe datasets groundstations list-providers

Output:

Available Ground Station Providers:
  - ksat (Kongsberg Satellite Services)
  - atlas (Atlas Space Operations)
  - aws (AWS Ground Station)
  - leaf (Leaf Space)

---

groundstations list-stations

List ground stations, optionally filtered by provider.

Syntax:

brahe datasets groundstations list-stations [OPTIONS]

Options: - --provider <name> - Filter by provider name

Examples:

List all ground stations:

brahe datasets groundstations list-stations

List KSAT stations only:

brahe datasets groundstations list-stations --provider ksat

Output:

KSAT Ground Stations:

  Svalbard, Norway
    Latitude:  78.23° N
    Longitude: 15.39° E
    Altitude:  500 m

  Troll, Antarctica
    Latitude:  72.01° S
    Longitude: 2.53° E
    Altitude:  1270 m

  Singapore
    Latitude:  1.34° N
    Longitude: 103.99° E
    Altitude:  15 m

List AWS Ground Stations:

brahe datasets groundstations list-stations --provider aws

---

groundstations show

Show ground stations for a specific provider (deprecated - use list-stations).

Syntax:

brahe datasets groundstations show <PROVIDER>

Examples:

brahe datasets groundstations show ksat

Note: This command is deprecated. Use list-stations --provider <name> instead.

---

groundstations show-all

Show ground stations from all providers.

Syntax:

brahe datasets groundstations show-all

Examples:

brahe datasets groundstations show-all

Note: Equivalent to list-stations without filters.

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Common Workflows

Download Satellite Data

#!/bin/bash
# Download TLE data for mission-relevant satellites

DATA_DIR="./satellite_data"
mkdir -p "$DATA_DIR"

echo "Downloading satellite TLE data..."

# Space stations
brahe datasets celestrak download stations "$DATA_DIR/stations.txt"

# GPS constellation
brahe datasets celestrak download gps-ops "$DATA_DIR/gps.txt"

# Starlink
brahe datasets celestrak download starlink "$DATA_DIR/starlink.txt"

# Weather satellites
brahe datasets celestrak download weather "$DATA_DIR/weather.txt"

echo "Download complete!"

Find Satellite NORAD ID

#!/bin/bash
# Find NORAD ID for satellite access computation

SATELLITE_NAME="ISS"

echo "Looking up: $SATELLITE_NAME"
brahe datasets celestrak lookup "$SATELLITE_NAME"

# Extract just the NORAD ID (for scripting)
NORAD_ID=$(brahe datasets celestrak lookup "$SATELLITE_NAME" | grep "NORAD ID:" | awk '{print $3}')
echo "NORAD ID: $NORAD_ID"

# Compute access windows
brahe access compute $NORAD_ID --lat 40.7128 --lon -74.0060

Orbital Parameter Survey

#!/bin/bash
# Survey orbital parameters for satellite constellation

SATS=(25544 20580 43013)  # ISS, HST, sample Starlink

echo "Satellite | Altitude | Inclination | Period"
echo "----------|----------|-------------|--------"

for norad in "${SATS[@]}"; do
  echo "Processing NORAD $norad..."
  brahe datasets celestrak show $norad | grep -E "Altitude|Inclination|Period"
done

Ground Station Selection

#!/bin/bash
# Select ground stations for satellite mission

SATELLITE=25544  # ISS
PROVIDERS=("ksat" "aws" "atlas")

echo "Evaluating ground stations for NORAD $SATELLITE"

for provider in "${PROVIDERS[@]}"; do
  echo ""
  echo "=== $provider stations ==="

  # List stations
  brahe datasets groundstations list-stations --provider $provider

  # Would compute access for each station (manual selection needed)
done

TLE Data Update

#!/bin/bash
# Regularly update TLE data for accuracy

DATA_DIR="./satellite_data"
GROUPS=("stations" "gps-ops" "active")

echo "Updating TLE data: $(date)"

for group in "${GROUPS[@]}"; do
  echo "Updating $group..."
  brahe datasets celestrak download $group "$DATA_DIR/${group}.txt"
done

echo "TLE data updated: $(date)"

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Tips

TLE Data Freshness

TLEs degrade over time: - LEO satellites: Update daily for accurate orbit prediction - MEO/GEO satellites: Update weekly acceptable - Mission-critical: Update before each operation

NORAD Catalog IDs

• Assigned sequentially by USSPACECOM
• Unique for each satellite
• Required for most Brahe access computations
• Find via celestrak lookup or online databases

CelesTrak Groups

Common group names: - stations - ISS, Tiangong, etc. - starlink - Starlink constellation - gps-ops - GPS operational satellites - galileo - Galileo GNSS - active - All active satellites - 2024-launches - Recent launches (year-specific)

Ground Station Providers

KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services): - Polar ground stations (Svalbard, Troll) - Excellent coverage for polar orbits

AWS Ground Station: - Global network - Cloud-integrated

Atlas Space Operations: - Freedom Network - Multiple global sites

Leaf Space: - European and global coverage

Scripting with Datasets

Extract specific info:

# Get just NORAD ID
brahe datasets celestrak lookup "ISS" | grep "NORAD ID:" | awk '{print $3}'

# Get orbital period
brahe datasets celestrak show 25544 | grep "Period:" | awk '{print $2, $3}'

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See Also

• CelesTrak - Official TLE data source
• Two-Line Elements - Understanding Two-Line Elements
• SGP Propagation - TLE-based orbit propagation
• Access CLI - Compute satellite passes (uses TLE data)
• Datasets API - Python dataset functions