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Examples

Welcome to the Astrea examples collection! These practical, runnable examples demonstrate how to use the library for real-world astrodynamics and aerospace engineering scenarios, from basic orbital mechanics calculations to advanced mission analysis applications.

What are Examples?

Examples bridge the gap between theoretical astrodynamics knowledge and practical implementation, showing complete, working aerospace applications that you can study and adapt for your own mission analysis and spacecraft engineering projects.

These examples:

  • ✅ Show complete, runnable code for real aerospace engineering scenarios
  • ✅ Demonstrate astrodynamics concepts with actual implementation
  • ✅ Range from basic orbital mechanics to complex mission analysis
  • ✅ Are organized by complexity level and aerospace domain
  • ✅ Work with all supported compilers
  • ✅ Include validation against known aerospace benchmark data
  • ✅ Use modern C++23 features with compile-time safety checks

Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with Astrea from the Getting Started guide. Beginner examples include detailed explanations of astrodynamics concepts; intermediate and advanced examples assume fundamental knowledge of orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering.

How to Use This Section?

Learning Path

Follow examples sequentially by complexity level:

  • Beginner - Start here if you're new to computational astrodynamics. Detailed explanations of fundamental concepts including orbital elements, coordinate frames, time systems, and basic propagation techniques.

  • Intermediate - Demonstrate specific astrodynamics applications in depth. Focus on mission analysis scenarios like access calculations, maneuver planning, and multi-body dynamics.

  • Advanced - Complex, real-world aerospace applications showing how Astrea solves challenging problems in spacecraft trajectory design, constellation analysis, and interplanetary mission planning.

Finding Examples by Category

Browse examples by aerospace domain:

  • Orbital Mechanics - Classical and modern orbital element sets, propagation methods
  • Coordinate Systems - Frame transformations, topocentric conversions, time systems
  • Mission Analysis - Access analysis, coverage calculations, link budgets
  • Spacecraft Dynamics - Attitude control, maneuvers, perturbation modeling
  • Data Processing - SPICE integration, TLE handling, ephemeris generation
  • Validation - Comparison with NASA benchmark data and published test cases

When to Use Examples?

Use Examples when you:

  • Want to see complete astrodynamics applications in action
  • Need inspiration for your aerospace engineering projects
  • Want to understand how orbital mechanics concepts translate to code
  • Are looking for mission analysis patterns to adapt to your use case
  • Need domain-specific implementations for spacecraft or satellite applications
  • Want to validate your own astrodynamics calculations against known results

Other Resources