Ground Track Repeat Cycle
Estimate orbit count and longitude shift for a repeating ground-track cycle.
Shift per orbit
24.72 deg
Earth rotation under each orbit
Repeat orbit count
44 orbits
nearest count over 3.00 sidereal days
Closure error
7.57 deg
residual longitude miss after rounded cycle
Ground-track repeat map
Each orbit lands on a shifted longitude because Earth rotates underneath the orbital plane.
24.72 deg per orbit
Orbits per sidereal day
14.565
period compared with Earth rotation
Track spacing
24.72 deg
longitude step per orbit
Repeat count
44 orbits
nearest integer cycle
Closure miss
7.57 deg
signed longitude residual
Open Source and Easy to Use Elsewhere
This tool is open source and the underlying logic is fully transparent. You can inspect the code, understand the calculations, and contribute improvements. If you want to use the tool in your own website, course page, or learning platform, you can also embed it directly and start from a ready-made iframe setup for this exact tool.
Open source: review the implementation and see how the results are produced.
Embeddable: preview this tool, copy the iframe, and use it in your own site or LMS.