STfCM – Satellite Tracker for Conflict Monitoring

STfCM is a small, satellite tracking app. A Rust backend serves a simple web UI, fetches and stores TLEs, propagates orbits with SGP4, and exposes endpoints used by the frontend to render satellites on a 3D globe and compute passes for user saved ground stations.

Quick Start

• Requirements: cargo with Rust stable, internet access.
• Run the server: cargo run -q
• Open the app: http://127.0.0.1:3000/

Features

• 3D globe with thousands of satellites (limit adjustable).
• Live health indicator (TLE elements availability, DB connectivity).
• Satellite name filter and click‑to‑inspect details.
• Ground station management (add/delete; persisted in SQLite).
• Pass prediction for a selected NORAD ID and station.
• Monochrome Earth texture for higher contrast against satellite markers.

Project Layout

• src/ – Rust backend
  • api/ – HTTP server, types, route handlers (Axum)
  • collectors/tle_fetcher.rs – TLE ingestion from Celestrak (Reqwest)
  • core/ – orbit/TLE parsing, propagation (SGP4)
  • predictors/passes.rs – pass prediction engine
  • utils/ – logging (Tracing), SQLite helpers (Rusqlite)
• web/ – static frontend assets
  • index.html – app shell
  • styles.css – minimal dark theme styling
  • main.js – globe rendering, UI logic (Globe.gl + Axios)
• data/
  • tle/ – timestamped TLE snapshots
  • db/ – tracker.sqlite with stations and metadata

Tech Stack

• Backend: Rust axum, tower-http, rusqlite (bundled), reqwest, sgp4, chrono, tracing
• Frontend: vanilla HTML/CSS/JS, globe.gl, axios

API Overview

• GET /health

  • Returns { elements: number, db: boolean } summarizing TLE cache and DB reachability.

• GET /satellites/positions?limit=<int>

  • Returns an array of satellites with fields:
    • norad_id, name, lat, lon, alt_km, speed_km_s, epoch
  • The frontend applies a local name filter and renders points on the globe.

• GET /satellites/{noradId}/passes?station_id=<id>&duration=<min>&step=<sec>&min_el=<deg>

  • Returns predicted pass windows for the specified satellite and station.
  • Each item includes start, end, and max_elevation_deg.

• GET /stations

  • Returns the list of saved ground stations.

• POST /stations (JSON body)

  • { name: string | null, lat: f64, lon: f64 }

• DELETE /stations/{id}

  • Removes a station by ID.

• Static assets: served under /ui/* and backed by files in web/.

Frontend Behavior

• Globe

  • Click a satellite to see details in the header and footer.
  • Use the filter input to quickly narrow satellites by name.
  • Adjust the render limit to balance performance vs. detail.

• Stations & Passes

  • Add a station (name optional; lat/lon required) and it is saved in SQLite.
  • Select a station and provide a NORAD ID to compute predicted passes.

Data & Storage

• TLE snapshots are stored in data/tle/ and updated by the backend.
• SQLite DB lives at data/db/tracker.sqlite (created automatically).

Configuration & Logging

• Logging respects RUST_LOG via Tracing’s env filter.
  • Examples:
    • Windows PowerShell: $env:RUST_LOG = "info"; cargo run -q
    • More detail: $env:RUST_LOG = "debug,axum=info"

Development

• Run: cargo run -q and open http://127.0.0.1:3000/.
• Hot reload is not enabled; refresh your browser after changes.
• If your browser shows stale CSS/JS, use a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5) or DevTools → Disable cache.

Project Notes

• No external database setup required; rusqlite uses a bundled SQLite.
• The app targets single‑node local usage; service hardening and multi‑user auth are out of scope for this minimal build.