ISS Orbit Simulator (2D) | mysimulator.uk

Orbit Parameters

Altitude 400 km

Inclination 51.6°

Playback

Time speed ×400

Orbit propagating in real time.

Live Readout (Kepler's Third Law)

Orbital period

92.7 min

Orbital velocity

7.66 km/s

Semi-major axis

6771 km

Ground longitude

0.0°

How it works

This 2D top-down view looks straight down on Earth's axis: the blue disc is Earth, the dashed ellipse traced by the tilted circle is the ISS orbit projected onto the page, and the moving amber dot is the station itself. The white curve below is the ground track — the point directly under the ISS as it sweeps over a rotating Earth.

The orbital period comes straight from Kepler's third law: T = 2π√(a³/μ), where a is the orbit's semi-major axis (Earth's radius plus altitude) and μ = GM⊕ = 398,600 km³/s² is Earth's standard gravitational parameter. Raising the altitude slider increases a, which lengthens the period — exactly why geostationary satellites orbit far higher and slower than the ISS.

Orbital velocity for a circular orbit follows v = √(μ/a): the same energy balance between gravity and centripetal acceleration that keeps the ISS in constant freefall around Earth. Inclination tilts the orbital plane relative to the equator, which is why the ground track sweeps between latitudes ±inclination instead of tracing the equator — the real ISS flies at 51.6° because that is the lowest inclination reachable from Baikonur without overflying China.

Earth (top-down) ISS Ground track