Access Resources

University Level

  • Basic Orbital Mechanics


  • Computer Sciences


    • 3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes

      AGI software developers Patrick Cozzi and Kevin Ring have finished writing a book on virtual globe graphics, titled "3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes". The authors are excited that software developers now have a ready resource for information about how to render high-performance, high-fidelity 3D graphics like those in STK and Insight3D.

      The attached link provides a look inside:

      • Detailed table of contents
      • Chapter 1: Introduction
      • Section 3.1: The Need for a Renderer
      • Section 4.3: GPU Ray Casting
      • Section 12.1: Level of Detail

      Book website: http://www.virtualglobebook.com/

    • AGI Components: Software Development Tools
      AGI Components is a family of low-level class libraries that provide access to specific analytical and 3D visualization capabilities, ideal for building applications that are:

      • Scalable
      • Multi-threaded
      • Suitable for thick-client, thin-client or server deployment
      • Cross-platform compatible (Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac)
      • Deployable in service-oriented architectures (SOA)
      • Suitable for internationalization
      • .net; java or silverlight versions available for free download.
    • Penn State Worthington - Paper: Physics in motion: an interdisciplinary project (link)
      Smarkusky, D.L., Stancavage, S.J., Eagan, R.E., Propert, P.E., Plociniak, R.F., and Nichols, A.M., “Physics in Motion: An Interdisciplinary Project”, Proceedings of 2011 ACM Special Interest Group in Information Technology Education (SIGITE), October 2011, pp. 33-38.

      Students in computer science and information technology should be engaged in solving real-world problems received from government and industry as well as those that expose them to various areas of application. This paper summarizes the results of an undergraduate research project between students in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and the Department of Physics. Students were provided with a copy of Satellite Tool Kit®, a commercial software product, and asked to complete research and development tasks based on the concepts learned in a distributed computing course. This interdisciplinary and collaborative effort provided challenges, lessons learned and positive experiences for future development.

  • Educational Websites


    • Cal Tech offers The Basics of Space Flight (BSF)
      Basics of Space Flight is a tutorial designed primarily to help operations people identify the range of concepts associated with deep space missions, and grasp the relationships among them. It also enjoys popularity with college and high-school students, as well as faculty, and people everywhere who are interested in interplanetary space flight. Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory create, manage and operate NASA projects of exploration throughout our solar system and beyond.
    • CelestTrack – NORAD Two-Line Element Sets
      NORAD maintains general perturbation element sets on all resident space objects. These element sets are periodically refined to maintain a reasonable prediction capability on all space objects. In turn, these element sets are provided to users. The purpose of this report is to provide the user with a means of propagating these element sets in time to obtain a position and velocity of the space object.
    • CubeSat Community Official Website
      The CubeSat Project was developed by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Stanford University's Space Systems Development Lab. The CubeSat program creates launch opportunities for universities previously unable to access space. The CubeSat program strives to provide practical, reliable, and cost-effective launch opportunities for small satellites and their payloads.
    • Google Lunar X Prize Educational Resources
      Part of the mission of the Google Lunar X PRIZE and the X PRIZE Foundation as a whole is to get kids excited about math and science, and spark their imaginations. To further this goal, they have created education resources, fun projects and videos for students around the world to explore and enjoy. Check out their materials or contact them at: www.googlelunarxprize.org.
    • NASA Internship Opportunities
      Use this NASA site to find out and apply for internship opportunities. These are open to full-time sophomores, junior, senior undergraduates or those at the early graduate level as of May of the program year. Must have a GPA 3.0 on 4.0 scale, major in engineering, science (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) math, computer science or other area of interest to the aerospace program; and be a US citizen.

  • Mission Planning and Design


  • Non-English Languages (German & Spanish)


  • Official Student Design Competitions


    • The 2nd Mission Idea Contest for Micro/Nano Satellites Utilization
      The objectives are to encourage innovative exploration of micro/nanosatellites to provide useful capabilities, services or data. Competition opens Nov 2011, Abstract deadline is May 1, 2012, Selection of Finalists is July 1, 2012, and finalists will receive free tickets to Japan to present at the 4th Nano-Satellite Symposium in Nagoya, Japan.
    • CanSat Competition (Link)
      Annual student design-build-launch competition for space-related topics sponsored by The American Astronautical Society (AAS) and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for university and college students from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
    • RASC-AL: Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academy Linkage (Link)
      This competition is sponsored by NASA & NIA. University teams at both the graduate and undergraduate levels are eligible to compete in NASA's 2010 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept--Academic Linkages (RASC-AL) competition. RASC-AL takes real-world NASA engineering design challenges and provides a forum for engineering students across the United States to compete for the best solution.
    • AUVSI Student UAS Competition (Link)
      The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) announces its Annual Student Unmanned Systems (UAS) Competition. Aimed at stimulating and fostering interest in this innovative technology and encouraging careers in the field, the competition challenges the students to design, fabricate,and demonstrate a system capable of completing a specific and independent aerial operation. Several different competitions are held each year.
    • AIAA Student Competitons (Link)
      Several regional competitions including: Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition OR Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition OR Cessna/Raytheon Missile Systems Student Design/Build/Fly competition sponsored by AIAA.
      A. Letter of Intent –Mid March
      B. Receipt of Proposal – Early June
      C. Announcement of Winners – August
    • Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition (Link)

      Sponsored by the Small Satellite Conference, the Student Scholarship Competition provides students with the opportunity to share their work on small satellite concepts and missions. Scholarships are awarded to competition finalists presenting at the Small Satellite Conference.

      Papers may be presented on relevant study and research related to:

      Small satellites, their subsystems and payloads
      Mission concepts
      Related infrastructure (launch vehicles or ground systems)
      Concepts (actual or proposed) may include hardware, uniquely applicable software, or mission results that serve to advance the state of the art or broaden the application of small satellites.

      Participation is open to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree in an engineering or scientific discipline at an accredited college or university.

    • NASA University Student Launch Initiative
      The NASA University Student Launch Initiative, or USLI, is a competition that challenges university-level students to design, build and fly a reusable rocket with scientific payload to one mile in altitude. The project engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering processes with NASA engineers. Students propose to participate in USLI during the fall. Once selected, teams design their rocket and payload throughout the school year. USLI requires a NASA review of the teams’ preliminary and critical designs. The project also requires flight readiness and safety reviews before the rockets and payloads are approved for launch. After launch, teams complete a final report to include conclusions from their science experiment and the overall flight performance. The Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, and Flight Readiness Review are conducted by panels of scientists and engineers from NASA and from NASA contactors and external partners.

      NASA Student Launch Projects are sponsored by ATK Launch Systems. The annual launch event is hosted at Bragg Farms in Toney, Ala., and launch services are provided by the Huntsville Area Rocketry Association.

    • RS-8 Responsive Space Conference Student Scholarship Competition (Link)
      RS8 Abstract Deadlines– Important dates to remember: Abstract Submission Deadline September 21, 2009 – Student Abstract and Student Scholarship Application Deadline October 26, 2009.

  • Orbit Determination


    • Instructional Materials


      • ODTK Online Help
        The ODTK product is accompanied by extensive documentation. ODTK's comprehensive help systems enable users to learn more about functions and features of interest.
      • Orbit Determination Curriculum (43.7 MB, pdf)
        This curriculum consists of a PowerPoint presentation of 214 slides along with sample scenarios and training developed by Dave Vallado, Center for Space Standards and Innovation (CSSI). The slides are grouped into daily lessons and cover 3 basic areas:
        • The educational aspect of Orbit Determination: a review of the basics, ( accompanies Chapter 10 of Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications.) The objective is to have the students just “see” what an operational tool can do.
        • The second part is an intro into the ODTK software . It talks about what it does, in terms that were introduced in part 1.
        • The last part is an expanded section that looks at various applications. The idea is to get students to know OD, understand how ODTK basically works, and then get them pushing buttons and seeing it in operation, using real-world data to show students that virtually nothing comes out as planned.

    • Samples: Student Projects or Homework Assignments


  • Satellite Communications


    • UCF - EEL4518 Satellite Communications Course (zip 24MB, ppt & doc)
      University of Central Florida course materials for EEL 4518, Satellite Communications, submitted May 2005. Series of 20 items which include lecture materials on the following topics: Downlink Analysis, Uplink Analysis, Intro to Satellite FM Communications, Digital Satellite Communications, Sat. Comm. Link Calculations, Intro to Sat. Comm. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Satellite Orbit Principles, Look Angle Determination, Telephony Pulse Amplitude Modulation & Pulse Code Modulation, Satellite Communications Transponder, and Interference Link Analysis.
    • UCF - EEL5432 Remote Sensing Course (zip 150MB, , ppt, wmv & pdf)
      University of Central Florida course materials for EEL 5432, Remote Sensing submitted May 2010. Series of items which include lecture materials and homework assignments. Topics include Coverage Calculation using STK, an STK tutorial and an STK video tutorial on Matlab Interface.
    • UCF - EEL 6590 Advanced Satellite Communications Course (zip 13 MB, ppt, pdf & doc)
      University of Central Florida course materials for Advanced Satellite Communications Course, submitted May 2011. Series of 10 items which include lecture materials, homework assignments and STK tutorials.

  • Scenarios and VDFs


    • VDF Online Examples
      STK users have the ability to export their analysis as Visual Data Format (VDF) files that can be opened in both STK and the free AGI Viewer, providing a method for "zipping" scenario data into one file for easy sharing and collaboration. VDFs allow full interaction with the original scenario when opened in STK, while AGI Viewer enables STK and non-STK users alike to interact with the 4-D analysis in a "read-only" format.

      You'll find sample VDFs on the following topics:
      • Current Events
      • C4ISR
      • Electronic Warfare
      • Geospatial Intelligence
      • Missile Defense
      • Navigation
      • Range Safety
      • Space Exploration
      • Space Mission Design and Operations
      • Space Superiority
      • UAV Systems
      • Viewer Examples

  • Small Satellite Programs


    • Cornell University CubeSat Submission (38.2 MB, pdf, wmv, STK scenarios)
      The team at Cornell shared with AGI how they used STK in their CubeSat program. Included:
      CUSat Animation.wmv,
      Mission Lifetime Analysis.pdf,
      ADCNS Safety Ellipse.pdf,
      ADCNS On Orbit Operations Analyses.pdf,
      STK Complete Simulation and Separation.
    • Cornell University: University Nanosat-6 Program (578 KB, doc)
      The purpose of this 13 page document is to analyze the effect of different orbit altitudes, inclinations, and eccentricities on Violet’s ability to complete its mission. The following aspects are considered: orbit lifetime, ground coverage, global positioning system (GPS) access, and solar illumination.
    • Old Dominion University: A De-orbit System Design for CubeSat Payloads (368 KB pdf)
      Paper written by Eser Lokcu and Robert L Ash Abstract: Compliance with the United Nations recommended 25-year maximum orbital lifetime requirement will restrict future standard CubeSat nanosatellite deployments to altitudes below 600 km. This paper describes a deployable aerodynamic drag device that can be incorporated in basic CubeSat satellite units that can meet the 25-year orbital lifetime constraint for initial orbit perigrees of up to 900 km.
    • Old Dominion University: A Methodology to Repair or Deorbit LEO Satellite Constellations (3.9MB, pdf)
      A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science written by Goksel Gurgenburan. In this thesis, mitigation of space debris is addressed by examining an approach for repair or de-orbit of a specific population of non-functional Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
    • S.O.C. Standard Object Catalog
      The Standard Object Catalog (SOC) is a free data repository of engineering models for use in STK and other AGI analysis products. Its purpose is to accelerate your analysis answers quickly by reducing or eliminating the time it takes to find data and construct models. The goal behind this website is to provide a way for the community to collaborate and share their STK objects. Currently in Beta, you can download files from the SOC. However, future versions will allow you to upload your own objects and create newer versions of existing ones. SOC data can be browsed, searched and downloaded via this website or directly from STK through a link to AGI’s publicly hosted server.
    • University of Hawaii Ho`oponopono Cubesat (wmv, 80MB)
      AGI developed a movie of the University of Hawaii's Ho`oponopono (“to make right” in the Hawaiian language), a 3U CubeSat whose mission is to provide radar calibration capabilities to a large pool of US military beneficiaries distributed around the world. The calibration process begins once Ho‘oponopono's on-board transponder receives an interrogation signal from a radar station that has requested calibration. A response signal is immediately sent back to the radar station, which can then make an estimate of where Ho`oponopono is in orbit. GPS data is simultaneously collected and downlinked, and eventually processed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. By comparing their own estimates to those of the more accurate GPS data, the radar station can then quantify how close their system is at pinpointing Ho`oponopono's location and make adjustments to their radar system as needed.

      Ho'oponopono is tentatively manifested for a September 2012 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch parameters include a 325-km, elliptical orbit with 51° +/- 2° inclination. This launch is meant to serve as a proof-of-concept opportunity for future launches and has a maximum expected lifetime approximated at 60 days.

  • Smart Phone Apps


    • Satellite AR Augmented Reality - Android App (blog post with download)
      Ever wonder what satellites are flying above your head when you look up? This app will show them to you using augmented reality. Point your phone's camera to the sky, and small icons track the locations of various satellites. For many, a line indicates their projected path across the sky. Those flying in sunlight are labeled in yellow, and those in the shadow of the Earth or Moon, in blue.

      This yellow and blue coloring is useful to casual observers who go out looking at the night sky for satellites. Typically, those in shadow (blue) are not visible at all, while satellites in Sun (yellow) may be visible even to the naked eye, depending on size, altitude, and other factors. The best time to spot satellites is often just after dusk or just before dawn, when the Earth's shadow is at a steep enough angle from the observer's point of view that the satellites above are still lit by direct sunlight.

      The app also contains a simple star map. The brightest 2000 stars are shown as white dots on the screen, to help the user align the app's display with the sky above.

  • Student Paper Submissions


    • Cranfield University - Earthshine Trajectory and Propulsion - Group Design Project Report (.8MB, pdf)
      Earthshine is a proposed deep space mission to be designed and developed exclusively by the UK. The mission will rely on proven small satellite technology and will be constructed primarily using commercial off-the-shelf components to minimize costs and production time. The mission is proposed to investigate if radiation from the Sun and galactic cosmic rays affect the Earth's climate. The proposed mission uses an operational halo orbit around the first Earth-Sun libration point and the purpose of this study was to investigate suitable low cost methods for transfer to the operational orbit.
    • CRPSM - Università di Roma (1.6 MB, pdf)
      In the present study we have analyzed the possibility to use a condition on altitude and speed to observe a particular zone of the Earth for as long as possible, using a quasi-synchronous (with the Earth) observation and setting the satellite apogee over the center of the zone of interest. Then, we have fixed the minimum number of satellites to continuously cover this zone for 24 hours.
    • CRPSM: A Small Satellite Mission devoted to Mid-Low Latitudes Observation (1.6 MB, pdf)
      The feasibility of a small satellite mission devoted to observe the mid-low latitude regions is analyzed in this report. STK softwae was used during the following phases: 1) to verify the periodicity and multi-Sun-synchronism of the selected orbit 2) to evaluate the minimum swath required to guarantee the full coverage of the area of interest and verify the possibility to have an overlap between adjacent swaths 3) to analyze the quality of the satellite accesses 4) to define the data acquisition strategy and compute the instruments duty cycle able to guarantee the full coverage of the target area and 5) to comute the orbital decay.
    • FORMOSAT-2 Imaging Simulation and Geometric Error Analysis
      Paper by HuiYu Shen, An-Ming Wu and Gianmarco Radice,

      FORMOSAT-2 satellite has the capability of daily revisit and global coverage, and provides images with a panchromatic band resolution of 2 m and multispectral band resolution of 8 m. The satellite has taken first-time images and provied continuous monitoring for many harge events arround the world......
    • Howard University: Coverage Patterns for the Molniya Orbit and Iridium Constellation (372 KB, doc)
      The objective in this paper (2004) is to introduce the theory of communication architecture for satellites and constellations. The paper is divided into two main parts. First, the design of the communication architecture in the satellite-Earth link will be explained. Second, STK is utilized to determine many of the coverage patterns for the satellites, and the software is employed to visualize how the satellite orbits around the Earth.
    • Stanford University: Testing Einstein's Theory of Relativity (3.58 ppt)
      A series of PowerPoint slides of a presentation at the 2005 AGI Users' Conference on Gravity Probe B - The Relativity Mission.
    • Tel-Aviv University: Advanced Sun Sensors for Pico-satellites (783 KB, pdf)
      This paper presents the development of a novel model to determine the attitude of a small, cubic shaped satellite in space relative to the Sun's direction. The improvements discussed here help Pico satellites to perform accurate attitude determination with no need for additional hardware. The theoretical and practical sides of this project are analyzed.
    • Technische Universität München: Satellite Mission Proposal (3 MB pdf)
      By: Gerardo Allende, Juan M. Cárdenas, Deep Ghosh, Kevin González, Juan J. Pimento, Sonya Spiridonova under the supervision of Dr.-Ing. Karin Hedman and Dr.-Ing. Klaus Reiniger. Soil Erosion, Land Use and Vegetation Analysis of the Amazon Basin from a Space-based Rapid Exploration Platform: Executive Summary. The Piranha Corporation is proud to present its mission proposal for the SELVA-RX satellite. This proposal is part of the project for the ESPACE master program at the Technische Universität München. The main scope of the mission is the rapid mapping of the world’s tropical regions, with a primary focus on the Amazon basin. This is accomplished by the satellite’s low orbit inclination allowing multiple data pass times over the tropical areas, mitigating the inherent cloud coverage problem. The mission is designed for five years of nominal operations with a tentative launch date in 2014.
    • Technische Universität München: Satellite for ECOSystem Land and Vegistation Monitoring of Amazon & Tropics (4 MB, pdf)
      ESPACE Seminar Project – Proposal for Satellite Mission Design and Planning: Proposal Framework. The following document is a mission analysis and design in response to the call for a rain forest mapping satellite mission issued by the joint cooperation framework of Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and German Aerospace Center (DLR). This cooperation aims for a launch of a satellite mission with high temporal repetition rate and low inclination to increase knowledge and research about the tropical region with special emphasis on the Amazon basin.
    • Texas A&M University - Low Energy Interplanetary Transfers Using Halo Orbit Hopping Method with STK/Astrogator (1.1 MB ppt)
      Accompanies paper above.
    • University of Maryland - Hyperspectral Satellite Imaging: Planning a Mission (138 KB, doc)
      PAPER: Hyperspectral imaging differs from typical remote sensing in that it provides much more detail throughout the targeted spectral area. In researching hyperspectral sensing and its needs, it has been determined that a hyperspectral satellite mission is in order. This paper describes a mission which contains a hyperspectral sensor or sensors that will image the Earth in all visible and infrared wavelengths from 400 nm to 15000 nm using approximately 700 bands between 10 nm and 30 nm in width.
    • University of Maryland - Hyperspectral Satellite Imaging: Planning a Mission (4.1 MB, ppt)
      PowerPoint slides which accompany the above paper.
    • University of Southampton Paper: A New Tool for Satellite Re-entry Predictions (816 KB, pdf)
      This paper investigates calculating atmospheric density by inferring thermospheric density from satellite drag data as a relatively cost-effective way of gathering in-situ measurements.
    • University of Washington - Luna Polaris, A lunar Positioning and Communications System (3.6 MB, ppt)
      This mission, Luna POLARIS, will enable robotic and manned missions to communicate with and transmit data to Earth from anywhere on the Moon via a constellation of moon orbiting satellites.
    • University of Washington - RTICC Rapid Terrestrial Imaging CubeSat Constellation: Preliminary Design Report (pdf. 4MB)
      Abstract: The goal of this project was to develop a detailed mission design for an Earth imaging application using a low-cost constellation of CubeSats. The mission design concept calls for a Walker constellation of 33 planes with 10 CubeSats per plane, at an altitude of 520 km.

High School/Middle School Level

  • Curriculum Materials & Tools


    • 22 July 2009 Solar Eclipse (8.4 MB, STK Scenario)
      This is an STK scenario ( 1.07 MB ) depicting the July 22, 2009 total solar eclipse over Asia. Unzip the attached file to open the scenario, which uses some clever constraints, where all of the shadows are actually computed using STK/Coverage and are based on AGI's proven access Line of Sight algorithms and accurate astrodynamics.
    • AGI's Space Education Curriculum (88 MB, ppt & doc)
      These curriculum materials on orbit mechanics have been designed to supplement space science instruction from an elementary level to college. The materials can help students understand space sciences and introduces STK software. Select the correct level folder for your classroom. Beginning: This folder is meant for students with no previous background in orbits or space. Intermediate: This folder contains materials to teach students about the classical orbital elements. Advanced: This folder further explores the physics concepts relating to orbit mechanics, including energy transfers. Each level includes lessons, assessments, standards and more.
    • An Introduction to Satellite Motion, source unknown (1.2MB, ppt)
      A series of slides concentrating on Kepler and his laws of Motion.
    • Basic Orbits: Types, Satellites, & Uses (1.9 MB, vdf)
      This AGI Viewer file depicts basic orbit types of LEO, MEO, HEO, and GEO. Includes text with purposes of each orbit and examples of satellites using each orbit.
    • Challenger Learning Center Missions (10.4 MB, pdf, STK scenarios)
      The Colorado Consortium of Earth and Space Science Education (CCESSE) has teamed up with AGI to enhance its Rendezvous with a Comet and Mars 2076 missions. They have created specific applications for the DATA officers to use in both the Space Station and Mission Control for these two missions. They also created pre-and post lessons for teachers to use to help prepare their students for the mission and to explain the science and math behind the application. The files contain the lessons, data logs and manual pages necessary to add this resource to a Challenger Learning Center (CLC) mission. Return to the Moon is under construction and will be included soon. CLC’s will also need to download the application, apply for an educator partnership with AGI and receive their licenses before they can begin using the product. The goal is to help the other Challenger Learning Centers to boost the DATA officer position, bring real-world applications such as STK into their missions and enhance the overall feel of the Comet and Mars missions.
    • Civil Air Patrol (CAP) STK Curriculum (PDF)
      Civil Air Patrol Advanced Technologies Group shares their CAP-STK program titled: "Intro to Space Course: Orbital Mechanics." The CAP-STK curriculum consists of an introduction to and basic study of orbital mechanics, which includes launch and satellite operations. Lesson plans deal with the tracking of satellites as well. Time of the current course is 32 hours. You can download the curriculum from the Civil Air Patrol ATG Web site.
    • Elementary PowerPoint Presentation on Satellites (57MB, ppt)
      PowerPoint presentation discussing what is a satellite, what they do and what happens when they are broken and brought back to Earth.
    • Orbits of Communications Satellites (119MB, wmv)
      Animation by Analytical Graphics, Inc. for the National Air & Space Museum: Washington, D.C. Starting at ground level of 100+ feet in altitude in Washington DC, this annimation takes the viewer into space passing airplanes to low earth orbiting satellites out as far as 45,000 miles to the geobelt and beyond, then back to earth again.
    • Orbit Tuner (Link)
      Orbit Tuner is a custom application which allows users to explore each of the classical orbital elements of a satellite in 2-D and 3-D space, providing an immediate, visual understanding of the impact of these elements on a satellite's orbit. By simply moving the sliders right and left, users can quickly and easily observe the effects of the orbital elements. Requires STK 6.x or higher to be loaded on machine and a current EDU license. This file opens the STK software, and takes several seconds.
    • Remote Sensing illustration: Which orbit type maximizes coverage? (4.3 MB, vdf)
      This AGI Viewer illustration asks the question, which orbit type maximizes coverage? It then reviews 3 types of orbit: GEO, polar LEO and equator LEO and shows illustrations of the coverage available with each type of orbit
    • Satellite Tracker (Link)
      The STK Satellite Backyard Tracker will tell you when and where you need to look to view the International Space Station and other satellites.
    • Space Debris Movies (50 MB, wmv)
      Three movies depicting the number of object and debris in space:
      • estimated number of items in space in the year 1967.
      • estimated number of items in space in the year 2007.
      • space debris modeling along a timeline from th early 60's to today.
    • Timeline of Building the International Space Station (ISS) (597 MB, wmv)
      AGI created this 17 minute movie on the history of the ISS from 1998 through 2009, using STK annimations, for National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The movie shows images of launch vehicles bringing the pieces of the ISS into orbit and the detailed maneuvers required to connect them together (Allow time for this file to download). Another depiction of building the ISS is from NASA, Produced by Robert W. Ahrens and Julia Schmalz, USA Today. The link: http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm is a 90 second annimation of each module or part being added, with links to get more information on each.
    • TR Robinson High School, Lesson Plan: How do I measure an orbit (76KB, doc)
      A 5-day lesson plan on orbits for grades 9 – 12, includes objectives, materials list, standards, references, procedures, discussion, and evaluation.
    • University of Manitoba: A Space Adventure Camp and Pre-University Outreach - paper (295 KB, pdf)
      This paper presents a summary of the experience gained from several offerings of a space adventure camp for high-school students at a university campus. Pedagogical, organizational, logistical and safety issues are discussed. Support from over 20 organizations is reviewed, including the strong Manitoba aerospace industry, the amateur radio community and several high schools.

  • Educational Websites - HS/MS/Elem


    • Air University – Teaching Space Resources
      Learn about the basics of space by checking out Space 101 along with additional tutorials and short courses.
    • Air University Space Primer
      To learn more about orbital mechanics in Chapter 8.
    • Careers in Aviation Website
      As a non-profit organization, Careers In Aviation, Inc. assists students with exploring the wide variety of opportunities in the aviation industry and is advancing the future of aviation careers through scholarship opportunities. As students explore the wide variety of opportunities in aviation, they will discover immense support from this Web site. Industry and educational partners have provided information about financial aid, scholarships and other funding in order to assist students to reach their goals.
    • Classroom Activities in Aerodynamics
      This site ties to national standards and includes several hands on activities. Topics covered are the historical evolution of the development of aerodynamics and its contribution to the invention of the airplane. Activities include some simple mechanisms for showing Bernoulli's Principle and semi-complex implements for demonstrating and measuring the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag.
    • Exploring the Moon Educator Guide - NASA
      Designed for educators for grades 4-12, the activities in this guide promote problem solving, communication skills and teamwork. Earth and space science subjects include lunar geology and regolith, distance to the Moon, Apollo landing sites and life support systems.
    • Goddard Space Flight Center Educational Programs
      The Goddard Education Web site contains programs and activities for students and educators from K-12 through the university level.
    • Heaven’s Above
      This is a Website that gives users information about when students can view satellites and other naked-eye objects in the sky such as the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, Iridium flares and more.
    • Introduction to Rocket Performance & Newton’s Three Laws
      ALLSTAR Network, Aeronautics Learning Laboratory for Science, Technology and Research. Learn about rockets along with Newton’s Laws and more.
    • Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion
      Learn about Kepler and his laws through animation clips.
    • Mars Bound! Mission to the Red Planet
      NASA, JPL and Arizona State University have partnered to create the ASU Planetary Imaging and Analysis Facility and Advanced Training Institute within the Mars Space Flight Facility on the Arizona State University campus. Their Web site has a wealth of information for teachers and students. Additional activities can be found at: http://marsed.asu.edu/.
    • NASA Education Materials
      NASA's unique research and missions have allowed NASA Education to produce educational materials that engage student interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Our goal is to create educational materials that are educationally sound, scientifically accurate and matched to national education standards.
    • NASA Aerospace Educational Services Program (AESP) Lunar Tool Kit, Solar Systems Tool Kit
      Using the AESP Lunar Toolkit This Toolkit is a guide to lunar resources that may be useful for K-12 STEM teacher professional development. Most of the materials have been carefully reviewed by Education Specialists in NASA’s Aerospace Education Services Project. Teacher’s guides, lesson plans, handouts, PowerPoint presentations and other PDF and Word files are located under the “Documents” heading at “Instructional materials.” Also under the “Documents” heading is a list of Moon multimedia (video, animation and audio), and many original documents and reports from the Apollo missions. All “Documents” materials are downloadable. Websites are located at “Educational materials sites” (under the “Lists” heading). Most of these websites also contain downloadable materials; they are maintained by other organizations.
    • National Conference on Aviation and Space Education
      Check this site for the National Conference on Aviation and Space Education dates and locations, or to access resources from past events.
    • Project Lead the Way
      Project Lead The Way®’s (PLTW's) curriculum makes math and science relevant for students. By engaging in hands-on, real-world projects, students understand how the skills they are learning in the classroom can be applied in everyday life. Project Lead The Way has created a special series of courses that are incorporated into the middle school and high school years. These courses complement math and science college preparatory programs to establish a solid background in engineering and technology. Two sets of curricula and courses are available to school districts: Gateway To Technology® (for middle school) and Pathway to Engineering™ (for high school). Both curricula contain a space/aerospace course.
    • Space Foundation Education
      The Space Foundation is developing the next generation of space professionals, and building the overall technical strength of the nation through education programs.

      By helping teachers integrate space into the classroom, we create a window into a different universe that stimulates students' interests and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

      Visit this site to see lots of great curriculum ideas and training opportunities
    • Space Operations Learning Center (SOLC)
      The NASA-sponsored Space Operations Learning Center Web site is a great place for students to learn about space through informative videos and challenging interactive simulations. This Web-based educational environment is designed primarily, but not exclusively for, NASA Explorer Schools (grades 6-12). SOLC's training modules feature three components each, and cover topics including space operations, mathematics, physics, and engineering. The contents meet a variety of national and state educational standards guidelines.
    • SPACESTARS, STARS Geo AP, Skills USA Programs by DigitalQuest
      SPACESTARS is a spatial information education program that uses high level analytical information to understand and solve locally based planning and environmental problems. The SPACESTARS lab enables teachers and students to define, design, implement, and assess school and community based problems using Geographic Information System tools and technology. The National Spatial Technology and Remote Sensing Geospatial Apprenticeship Program (STARS Geo AP) Committee has established a standardized pathway for schools, individuals and employers, to train skilled Geospatial workers for geospatial jobs. SkillsUSA has partnered with the GIS industry to develop a competition program that will provide universities, colleges and their students with a way to validate their geospatial program and measure them against national standards.
    • Virtual Astronaut Website
      Students can pretend they are in the Astronaut Corps and are making their first trip to the Space Station. Students will see actual photos of astronauts on spacewalks and training in the NBL. He or she can play "Immune Invaders", learn geography and conduct experiments that have actually been done in space. The Web site is geared for 5th - 8th graders, but younger and older students love the site as well. Log on as teachers, and you will also find lesson plans.

  • High School / Middle School



Training

  • STK Training


    • Astrogator Resources (Link)
      Learn how to use STK/Astrogator with tools such as sample scenarios and PowerPoint presentations.
    • STK Training Class Schedule (Link)
      AGI offers Free training classes. Select either the Free one-day Fundamentals Class or the week-long Comprehensive Training. To see times and locations for the various training classes, click on the above link.
    • STK Training Manuals, Fundamentals, Design, Analyze, Optimize, and Output (Link)
      These manuals are used in the Free STK Fundamentals or Comprehensive Week Training classes. STK Training is a collection of instructor-led exercises that provide hands-on experience with a variety of the features and functions on which STK is built. This course will teach you not only how to analyze the land, sea, air, and space objects and their environments, but how to assess and adaptively plan operations using quantitative analysis of the positions and attributes of thousands of assets. This course will focus on the core modules that are commonly used to perform various types of analysis.
    • STK Training Materials Search (Link)
      Visit our revamped training materials section where you can now filter your selections by course, STK skill set, versions, formats and capability area.

  • Video Tutorials


    • Video Tutorials for Getting Started with STK (Link)
      AGI's video tutorials are a fast and efficient way to get started with STK. These short videos range from basic to more advanced topics. If you are new to STK we recommend that you watch the tutorials from start to finish as they introduce many of STK‘s unique paradigm, analytical tools and procedures.
    • YouTube
      This is a collection of self-paced instructional videos that, when used with our software, provide hands-on experience with a variety of the features and functions on which STK is built.

  • On-Line Help & Resources


    • AGI Forum - where to find help on many topics (link)
      Students should not be contacting the AGI Support Department. Questions should first be directed to your teacher. The AGI Forum is an excellent source as well.
    • Clip Manager – Making Movie (Link)
      STK Clip Manager is a utility that streamlines the process of creating and rendering movie clips from STK. Often, a single STK scenario contains enough material to warrant shooting several movie clips from different views at different times in the scenario. Each potential movie clip needs its own animation start and end times, time step, camera view, etc. Using STK Clip Manager, users can quickly and easily manage these and other parameters, as well as queuing up and recording these movie clips.
    • Java Connect (Link)
      This downloadable link contains a sample of Java and a sample class file.
    • Models
      Download and/or look at real models – then, use them in a scenario.
    • Online Help
      The STK family of products is accompanied by extensive documentation. STK's comprehensive help systems enable users to learn more about functions and features of interest. STK Help is available to be viewed online and also for download in .CHM (Windows® Help) format. After downloading and extracting the zipped files, you can access STK Help by opening \StartHere.htm.
    • The AGI Developer Network Code Exchange (link)
      The AGI Developer Network Code Exchange is the place to find and share code samples and snippets written by AGI staff or contributed by users. Note: all samples written by AGI staff have been tested and will work with the specified version.
      Sample - a standalone utility with source code
      Snippet - a small section of re-usable source code
    • Tutorials
      AGI’s comprehensive tutorials (text based) help users better understand the features and functions of the STK suite. Each tutorial is listed along with the licenses that are required for each exercise.
    • User Resources
      Link to helpful sites on the agi.com website: AGI User Community pages and the ADN Developer Network; User Conference Resources, AGI Blogs, Sample AGI Viewer vdfs, How To videos, White Papers and more.
    • Videos
      Check out AGI’s Space Exploration, Explore Space Superiority, and Explore Navigation videos.
    • Visual Basic
      This downloadable link contains a sample of Visual Basic, along with other files that are needed, including a “Read Me” file.

  • Webinars


    • Webinars
      Please check out these educational webinars: Visual Satellite Observing – Fundamentals, Iridium Flares, and Solar/Lunar Transits
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AGI Support

Hours

  • Monday - Thursday: 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. ET
  • Friday: 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET

Phone

  • 1.800.924.7244
  • 1.610.981.8888

E-mail

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Try AGI's Public ADF Server
  1. Obtain temporary permission to write to AGI's ADF server by requesting a guest account.
  2. Step by Step ADF Tutorial

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See the ADF Administrators Guide for specific information about configuring an ADF Server.

Follow instructions below to request a 90 day evaluation license and the ADF Server Installation download link.

AGI Data Federate requires the use of a FlexNET License Server to host your license.

Obtain the Host ID and the Hostname or IP Address:

  • Start All Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt. Right-click to 'Run as administrator'.
  • At the prompt, enter ipconfig /all
  • Under Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection, note:
    • Physical Address (Host id)
    • IPv4 Address (IP Address)
  • Send this to AGI Support (moc.iga@troppus), with the subject line "Request for ADF Licenses."

You will receive an e-mail containing

  1. ADF Server Installation download link
  2. Detailed instructions for installing the License Server.
  3. Users are provided two *.lic files; a server license file installed on the FlexNET License Server and a client license, installed during the AGI Data Federate Server installation.
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Supported OS and Hardware Requirements

Supported Operating Systems
  • Windows
  • XP Professional
  • Server 2003, 2008
  • Vista
  • Windows 7
  • Linux (TBA)
Minimum Hardware Requirements
  • 1.4 GHz Core Duo Processor
  • 2 GB RAM, 1 GB Disk Space for Installation
  • Dedicated Storage for Data, based on your needs
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Why do I need to create an account and/or login?

AGI offers valuable online resources to registered Web visitors, such as software and data downloads, webinars and training materials, and product and event information. To access these key sections of our site, users must login. Remember, you only have to sign-up once and after that, you just need to login each time you visit.

Note: The following information is required for export control purposes only. AGI is committed to protecting your privacy, and as such, does not sell, trade or rent your personal information to third parties.