Satellite Database Format

The satellite database is comprised of a total of four files. You can create your own satellite database by following the format required by STK. The stkSatDb database, which is a database of all cataloged satellites, both active and inactive, includes the following files:

stkSatDb database files

File	Contents
stkSatDb.sd	Main database file
stkSatDb.om	Owner/Mission
stkSatDb.tce	Two-line Element Sets
stkSatDb.gd	Latest update information

The first file contains fixed-width fields. One row represents a single entry.

stkSatDb.sd file

This is the main satellite database file; it contains all searchable fields. The format, starting at column zero (0), is as follows:

stkSatDb.sd file description

Column	Width	Description
0-4	5	SSC number: Valid values are 00001 - 99999 (KEY FIELD). Leading zeros are expected by STK.
5-19	15	Common name: This is any common name that may be used. There may be multiple entries for a satellite; these may differ in the common name.
20-34	15	Official name: This is the unique official name for the entry.
35-45	11	International number: This is a unique number assigned by U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) to all objects achieving orbit and observed.
46-55	10	Owner/country: This identifies the owner of the satellite.
56-65	10	Mission: This is the category of the mission.
66-68	3	Launch site: This identifies the launch site; the ID may be abbreviated.
69-76	8	Launch date: The format is YYYYMMDD.
77-80	4	Launch time (UTC): The format is HHMM format (0000-2359).
81-100	20	Orbit outcome: An example is "heliocentric orbit". For decayed objects, no orbital elements available is displayed.
101-104	4	This field is blank.
105-112	8	Mass: This is the dry mass of the satellite in kilograms.
113-118	6	Apogee: It is given in kilometers.
119-123	5	Perigee: It is given in kilometers.
124-130	7	Period: This is the time in minutes for the satellite to complete one revolution of the earth. This number is rounded to nearest tenth of a minute.
131-135	5	Inclination: This is the angle in degrees between the plane of the orbit and the equatorial plane of the planet.
136-140	5	This field is blank.
141-148	8	Status: The designation is either Active or Inactive.
149-156	8	Date of last database update: The format is YYYYMMDD.

stkSatDb.om file

This is the Owner/Mission file. It contains a list of all the valid owners and missions in the database. This file is used to build the list of owners/mission available in the user interface. If this file isn't available, STK is unable to search for satellite owners or mission. The file is in a basic STK data file format.

Example of owner/mission file for the satellite database

BEGIN Owner
ARABSAT
ASIASAT
ALGERIA
ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA
BRAZIL
CANADA
CHINA/BRAZIL
CHILE
CIS
CZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARK
EGYPT
ESA
ESRO
EUMETSAT
EUTELSAT
FRANCE/GERMANY
FRANCE
GERMANY
GLOBALSTAR
INMARSAT
INDIA
INDONESIA
IRIDIUM
ISRAEL
ISS
ITALY
INTELSAT
JAPAN
LUXEMBOURG
MALAYSIA
MEXICO
NATO
NETHERLANDS
NEW ICO
NIGERIA
NORWAY
ORBCOMM
PAKISTAN
PORTUGAL
PRC
PRC/ESA
TAIWAN
PHILIPPINES
SOUTH AFRICA
SAUDI ARABIA
SEA LAUNCH
SOUTH KOREA
SPAIN
SINGAPORE/TAIWAN
SWEDEN
THAILAND
TURKEY
UAR
UK
US
US/BRAZIL
END Owner
BEGIN Mission
ASTRONOMY
COMM-CIVIL
COMM-JOINT
COMM-MIL
COMM-MOBIL
COMM-TEST
COMM-WX
DEEP-SPACE
DOCK-TGT
DUMMY-P/L
EARTH-RES
ELINT
EORSAT
GEODETIC
IMAGERY
JUPITER
MOON
MANNED
MARS
MERCURY
METSAT
MILITARY
MODULE
MSL-WARN
NAVSAT
NEPTUNE
NRT-IMG
OCEAN-SURV
OCEANOGRPY
PLUTO
RADAR-CAL
RADAR-IMG
REMOTE-IMG
RESUPPLY
SATURN
SCIENCE
SIGINT
SUN
TECHNOLOGY
TEST-CRAFT
TEST-VEHL
TETHER
URANUS
VENUS
END Mission

stkSatDb.tce file

This file contains all TLE sets for the satellites in the database. Single entries are supported in this file. The element sets represent the latest available TLE data for each satellite. Click here for the format definition of a TLE file.

Example of stkSatDb.tce file for the satellite database

1 00005U 58002B   05015.94626345 -.00000062 00000-0 -10317-3 0 9658
2 00005 34.2544 279.4240 1851477 235.3377 105.8748 10.83848344594048
1 00011U 59001A   05015.08582723 .00000155 00000-0 62942-4 0 1094
2 00011 32.8742 252.5821 1484798 239.7234 104.8236 11.82002579949142
1 00012U 59001B   05015.81379938 .00000334 00000-0 20907-3 0 5848
2 00012 32.8922 192.9596 1681078 80.7514 297.8531 11.40765732878338
1 00016U 58002A   05015.94728841 .00000029 00000-0 13838-4 0 3987
2 00016 34.2736 202.9570 2031906 271.0047 65.9929 10.47957803867837
1 00020U 59007A   05015.35273971 .00000630 00000-0 26956-3 0 5357
2 00020 33.3472 351.0938 1690744 52.6138 321.6759 11.50473782580498
1 00022U 59009A   05015.95064910 .00000663 00000-0 92921-4 0 1783
2 00022 50.2929 278.4707 0179209 252.3746 105.7553 14.80402097387262
1 00029U 60002B   05013.90124256 .00000037 00000-0 38295-4 0 3936
2 00029 48.3834 186.5671 0024985 314.7880 45.0995 14.71345039388318
1 00045U 60007A   05015.74008867 .00000100 00000-0 53717-4 0 4356
2 00045 66.6974 78.4199 0253333 89.3317 273.6828 14.31832518315974

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stkSatDb.gd file

This is the generic database file. It contains information concerning the last update of the database. This file is used by the online update option to determine which records to supply. This file is in a basic STK data file format.

Example of stkSatDb.gd file

BEGIN DatabaseUpdate
Version 1.0
LastUpdate 19970405
END DatabaseUpdate