Orbital Stick Mission Planner

This project is an iteration of the falling stick physics simulator, scaled up to represent an Earth-scale orbital delivery mission.

Features

• Spherical ECEF Physics Backend: The physics engine runs purely in NumPy, detached from rendering code. It computes 6-DOF coordinate integration and spherical targeting, exporting telemetry over a high-speed WebSocket at 20Hz.
• MapLibre GL JS Visualization: The web visualizer is a modern browser frontend that connects via WebSockets. It uses MapLibre to render a global orthographic-style 3D map, tracking the trailing flightpath with a glowing line and the stick position with a marker.
• Multi-Phase State Machine: The rocket attempts a full sub-orbital hop:
  1. ASCENT: Fires thrusters and tilts to navigate to the target coordinates.
  2. COAST: Ascends ballistically through the atmosphere.
  3. DEPLOY: At apogee/target, dispenses a mock satellite payload.
  4. DESCENT: Falls back towards the landing zone.
  5. LANDING: Performs a suicide burn, guiding the stick vertically onto the target spot.

Running the Simulator

To execute the Web Application:

pip install fastapi uvicorn websockets numpy
python3 server.py

Then, open your web browser and navigate to: http://localhost:8000

Fill in the mission parameters on the left sidebar and click "IGNITION" to track your spacecraft across the globe!