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ntn-constellation

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ntn-constellation

LEO mega-constellations from TLEs or orbital elements, with contact-graph routing across inter-satellite links

ns-3.43 GPL-2.0 SGP4 and Walker-Delta constellation presets 4 examples

Toolkit  ·  Install  ·  Examples  ·  Docs

Everything above this module needs to know where the satellites are, and the answer has to be the same answer at every layer. ntn-constellation generates a shell from two-line elements or from orbital elements, propagates it, and hands one consistent ephemeris to the radio, the handover logic, the routing and the visualization.

On top of the geometry sits the network view: a contact graph over inter-satellite links with limb-clearance so a link that would cut through the atmosphere is not offered, scheduling across contact windows, and shortest-path routing with a BFS cross-check so a route the scheduler likes can be compared against a route nobody optimized.

The free-space link budget is calibrated against the TR 38.821 corpus rather than against itself, which is a distinction with a history: the calibration test used to compare the reference corpus against a synthetic offset of itself and never touched the toolkit at all.

Quick start

Inside the toolkit, where the module is already present and built:

./ns3 run ntn-constellation-demo
./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-walker --shell=starlink-550"

Standalone, into an existing ns-3.43 tree:

git clone -b ntn-constellation-v2 https://github.com/Muhammaduazir69/ntn-constellation.git contrib/ntn-constellation
./ns3 configure --enable-modules='' --enable-examples --enable-tests
./ns3 build

INSTALL.md in this directory carries the full dependency list. Most examples in this module build on ntn-traffic, the toolkit's real-stack spine, so the toolkit tree is the path of least resistance.

Overview

ntn-constellation provides the orbital-mechanics foundation for the toolkit: it generates LEO constellations, propagates them with high fidelity inside an ns-3 simulation, and turns the resulting time-varying geometry into the link-up/link-down events that the rest of the data plane consumes. Everything lives in the ns3::ntncon namespace.

  • Walker-Delta / Walker-Star generator — WalkerConstellation::BuildDelta() / BuildStar() build a full constellation from a WalkerConfig (planes, satellites per plane, altitude, inclination), emitting classical orbital elements ready for the mobility model.
  • Orbital propagation — Sgp4MobilityModel is an ns-3 MobilityModel that propagates a satellite from a TleRecord (or KeplerianElements) using an analytic Kepler propagator with secular J2 corrections (RAAN and argument-of-perigee) and an SGP4-compatible TLE interface, so position queries during Simulator::Run() follow the orbit. ECEF/ECI/geodetic surfaces and a ground-station elevation query are built in. Full Vallado SGP4 (with atmospheric drag / B*) is planned for Q4 2026; the TLE drag (B*) field is parsed but not yet used by this model.
  • Contact-graph scheduling — ContactGraphScheduler evaluates GSL (ground↔sat) and ISL (sat↔sat) visibility over the simulation timeline and raises ContactEvents as links come up and go down.
  • Contact-graph path computation — ContactGraphRouter is a path-computation helper (inherits Object): it computes paths across the time-varying topology and returns node-ID sequences — direct contacts, BFS shortest path, edge-weighted Dijkstra, and a regenerative-vs-bent-pipe mode (SetRegenMode) that steers the computed path around bent-pipe transit nodes. It installs no ns-3 forwarding table; the routed examples feed the computed path to ns-3 static/global routing themselves.
  • Calibration corpus — tr38821-corpus (Tr38821CorpusReader, CalibrationHarness) ships 3GPP TR 38.821 reference scenarios/link budgets plus a Starlink-EU latency/station corpus to validate toolkit predictions against published references.

This module also ships a pip-installable Python companion (ntn_constellation) for the tool side — see Python package.

Two propagators, two fidelity levels. The in-simulation C++ model (Sgp4MobilityModel) is a Kepler + J2 secular propagator with a TLE-compatible interface — it is not a full SGP4 implementation yet; full Vallado SGP4 (atmospheric drag / B*) is planned for Q4 2026, and the B* field is parsed but unused until then. The tool-side Python package (ntn_constellation) is different: it uses the real sgp4 library and Skyfield for canonical SGP4/SDP4 propagation when it generates TLEs, ephemerides, and export files offline. So "SGP4" claims below apply to the Python side; the C++ side is Kepler+J2 for now.

What changed in v2.5

See CHANGELOG.md for this module's changelog.

  • Measured radio in the access-link examples. ntn-constellation-walker-traffic and ntn-constellation-sgp4-mobility-traffic now drive a real mmwave NR NTN cell through NtnRealStackHelper (from the ntn-traffic module): SpectrumPhy + MAC + HARQ + RLC/PDCP + RRC + EPC, with SINR/TBLER/throughput measured off the mmwave PHY traces — no closed-form SINR, no P2P star. Ground UEs use TR 38.811 mobility classes (NtnTr38811MobilityHelper, from ntn-cho).
  • Measured application KPIs in the routed examples. The ntn-constellation-isl-routed-traffic and ntn-constellation-real-routed examples carry traffic with NtnOranApplication / NtnOranSink (from ntn-traffic): every packet carries a 24-byte in-band NtnOranPayloadHeader (5QI, S-NSSAI, QFI, sequence, TX timestamp), and one-way delay, RFC 3550 jitter, and loss are measured at the sink from those header primitives. OnOffApplication traffic is gone toolkit-wide.
  • Real orbital dynamics in the routed examples. Satellites in the routed examples are SGP4/Walker neighbours projected into a local ENU frame (NtnEnuProjectionMobilityModel, from ntn-cho), so the satA-sets / satB-rises reroute emerges from genuine orbital motion.

Models, helpers & key classes

Derived from model/*.h:

Header Key types Role
walker-constellation.h WalkerConfig, WalkerConstellation (BuildDelta, BuildStar) Walker-Delta / Walker-Star constellation generation (planes, sats/plane, altitude, inclination).
sgp4-mobility-model.h Sgp4MobilityModel ns-3 MobilityModel that propagates a satellite during the simulation via an analytic Kepler + secular-J2 propagator with an SGP4-compatible TLE interface (full Vallado SGP4 with drag/B* planned Q4 2026; B* parsed but unused). ECEF/ECI/geodetic accessors and GetElevationDeg().
orbital-elements.h TleRecord, KeplerianElements TLE / Keplerian element records consumed by the mobility model.
contact-graph-scheduler.h ContactGraphScheduler, ContactEvent Computes GSL/ISL visibility and emits link up/down events over time; up/down event counters per link class.
contact-graph-router.h ContactGraphRouter Path-computation helper over the time-varying contact graph (returns node-ID vectors; installs no forwarding table): BFS shortest path, weighted Dijkstra, regenerative-vs-bent-pipe constrained path selection.
tr38821-corpus.h Tr38821CorpusReader, Tr38821Scenario, Tr38821LinkBudget, StarlinkLatencySample, StarlinkStation, CalibrationResidual TR 38.821 + Starlink calibration corpus and harness.

Examples

Built binaries land in build/contrib/ntn-constellation/examples/ as ns3.43-<NAME>-default. Each can be launched through ./ns3 run (from the repo root) or invoked directly. The two access-link examples (walker-traffic, sgp4-mobility-traffic) require the toolkit's mmwave module; the two routed examples need only core ns-3 plus ntn-traffic/ntn-cho.

ntn-constellation-walker-traffic

A Walker-Delta constellation provides the ephemeris and ISL/GSL contact-graph context (ContactGraphScheduler), while ONE serving satellite carries a real mmwave NR NTN cell (NtnRealStackHelper) to TR 38.811 ground UEs placed at its sub-point. Radio KPIs (SINR/TBLER/throughput) are measured off the mmwave PHY trace; constellation-scale connectivity is reported from the contact graph.

# via ns3 (from repo root)
./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-walker-traffic --simSeconds=20 --numPlanes=4 --satsPerPlane=11 --altKm=550 --inclinationDeg=53 --outputDir=results/walker"

Outputs: sim_health.csv (measured-KPI fidelity gates) in --outputDir, plus a summary block printed to stdout:

# === ntn-constellation-walker-traffic summary ===
#   Walker: planes=<P> sats/plane=<S> total=<N> altKm=<A> inc=<I> deg
#   serving cell on sat 0 (sub-point lat <..> lon <..>)
#   measured SINR=<..> dB  measured throughput=<..> Mbps
#   GSL up=<N> down=<N>  ISL up=<N> down=<N>

Key args: --simSeconds, --numPlanes, --satsPerPlane, --altKm, --inclinationDeg, --islRangeCapKm, --numUes, --satEirpDbm, --outputDir.

ntn-constellation-sgp4-mobility-traffic

A single LEO satellite from a TLE drives a real mmwave NR NTN cell (NtnRealStackHelper) toward TR 38.811 ground UEs, while the ContactGraphScheduler tracks GSL up/down events from the live orbital geometry. If --gsLat/--gsLon are not supplied, the ground station is auto-placed beneath the satellite's t=0 sub-point so a real rise→zenith→set pass always occurs regardless of TLE epoch.

# via ns3 (from repo root)
./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-sgp4-mobility-traffic --simSeconds=20 --tle=contrib/ntn-rrc/data/iss-zarya.tle --outputDir=results/sgp4"

# pin a fixed ground site
./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-sgp4-mobility-traffic --simSeconds=20 --gsLat=33.6844 --gsLon=73.0479 --minElev=10 --outputDir=results/sgp4"

Outputs: sim_health.csv in --outputDir, plus a summary block printed to stdout:

# === ntn-constellation-sgp4-mobility-traffic summary ===
#   TLE: <path>   GS(lat,lon)=(..)  minElev=<..> deg
#   measured SINR=<..> dB  measured throughput=<..> Mbps  GSL up=<N> down=<N>

Key args: --simSeconds, --tle (default: contrib/ntn-rrc/data/iss-zarya.tle), --gsLat / --gsLon (default: satellite t=0 sub-point), --minElev, --numUes, --satEirpDbm, --outputDir.

ntn-constellation-isl-routed-traffic

Real ISL-routed packet forwarding GS1 -> satA -> [ISL] -> satB -> GS2: real Ipv4 forwarding through the satellite nodes, per-hop propagation delay set to the real slant/ISL range over c, and a binary geometry contact gate per hop (GSL above minimum elevation, ISL within the range cap) — when a hop falls out of contact its link drops and delivery recovers when contact resumes. Traffic is an NtnOranApplication CBR flow; delivery/delay/jitter/loss are measured end-to-end at the NtnOranSink from the in-band NtnOranPayloadHeader.

./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-isl-routed-traffic --duration=40"

Outputs: sim_health.csv (throughput, mean e2e delay, jitter, loss, delivery ratio, out-of-contact ticks — each tagged with its measurement provenance) in --outputDir, plus a measured summary on stdout.

Key args: --duration, --altKm, --satSpeed, --minElev, --islRangeCapKm, --outputDir.

ntn-constellation-real-routed

Routing-pattern flagship: the geometry-driven routing decision actually INSTALLS Ipv4 static routes, so real UDP packets are forwarded through the satellite nodes and adaptively REROUTE as the constellation moves — gs1 -> satA -> gs2 while satA is in contact, then gs1 -> satB -> gs2 once satA sets and satB rises (the two satellites are real Kepler+J2-secular Walker neighbours — Vallado SGP4 available via SetUseVallado — projected into a local ENU frame). Per-link delay is the real slant range over c; KPIs are measured at the NtnOranSink.

./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-real-routed --duration=40"

Outputs: sim_health.csv (throughput, delay, jitter, loss, route installs, reroute count) in --outputDir, plus per-event ROUTE INSTALLED via satA/satB lines and a measured summary on stdout.

Key args: --duration, --altKm, --satSpeed, --outputDir.

Python package

This module also ships a pip-installable Python companion, ntn_constellation — a pure-Python, tool-side pipeline for fresh ephemerides, canonical SGP4/SDP4 propagation, and export shapes that drop into both the simulator (SNS3 scenario layout) and the CesiumJS 3D viewer. It does not modify the C++ ns-3 build; it produces inputs the simulator already understands.

  • Built-in presets: Starlink (shells 1+2 + polar) · OneWeb · Kuiper · Telesat Lightspeed · Iridium NEXT.
  • Walker generators (walker_delta, walker_star) emitting valid SGP4-parseable TLEs.
  • Satellite / Constellation API over Skyfield + raw sgp4; geodetic subpoint, ECI state vector, ground-station elevation/azimuth/range.
  • ISL topology builders (build_isl_topology k-NN with range cap; grid_isl_topology_walker closed-form +grid for Walker layouts).
  • Live feeds: CelesTrak (no credentials) and Space-Track (SPACETRACK_USER/SPACETRACK_PASS), with a TTL-based on-disk TLE cache (default 6 h).
  • Exporters: write_sns3_scenario (SNS3 positions/{tles,isls,start_date,gw_positions,ut_positions}.txt) and write_czml (CesiumJS CZML).
  • ntn-fetch CLI entry point for one-line scenario builds (preset or live).

Install and run:

git clone https://github.com/Muhammaduazir69/ntn-constellation.git contrib/ntn-constellation
cd contrib/ntn-constellation
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e .[test]
# Live: current Starlink → SNS3 + Cesium
.venv/bin/ntn-fetch starlink --out data/starlink-now \
    --max-sats 200 --czml --czml-duration-min 120 --czml-step-sec 30 -v

# Preset (no internet): Kuiper Phase-1 Walker
.venv/bin/ntn-fetch kuiper --out data/kuiper --isl-walker --czml
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
from ntn_constellation import (
    CelesTrakFeed, TleCache, Constellation,
    build_isl_topology, write_sns3_scenario, write_czml,
)

feed = CelesTrakFeed(cache=TleCache("./.cache"))
tles = feed.fetch_group("oneweb")[:100]

c = Constellation.from_tles(tles)
when = datetime.now(tz=timezone.utc)

visible = c.visible_from(when, observer_lat_deg=33.6844,
                         observer_lon_deg=73.0479, min_elevation_deg=10)
isls = build_isl_topology(c, when, k_nearest=4, max_range_km=5000.0)
write_sns3_scenario(scenario_dir="data/oneweb-sample", tles=tles,
                    start_date=when, isls=isls)
write_czml(constellation=c, start=when, duration=timedelta(hours=2),
           sample_step=timedelta(seconds=30),
           out_path="data/oneweb-sample/oneweb.czml")

The Python side ships 10 unit tests (TLE parsing, preset generation, SGP4 propagation, ISS visibility from Islamabad, ISL topology, SNS3 file layout) and is validated against an independent Skyfield reference (24 h / 66 sats / 1440 samples: 0 NaN, 0.4 s wallclock; STARLINK-1008 1800 s pass: max 23.5 µs error, drift 0.006 µs/s). See INSTALL.md for the full Python setup including CelesTrak/Space-Track environment variables.

Build, run & test

From the repository root:

# Configure & build
./ns3 configure --enable-examples --enable-tests
./ns3 build

# Run an example
./ns3 run "ntn-constellation-real-routed --duration=40"

# Run this module's test suite
./test.py --suite=ntn-constellation

The ntn-constellation suite has 20 unit tests covering TLE parsing/checksums, periodic-return and ECEF-altitude propagation checks, Walker-Delta geometry, contact scheduling (LEO pass + same-plane ISL pair), contact-graph routing (direct edges, BFS, weighted Dijkstra, regenerative-only routing — including 600 s Simulator::Run() cases), and the TR 38.821 + Starlink calibration harness. The constellation mobility models are additionally cross-validated against Kepler orbital theory, the Doppler envelope, and TR 38.821 geometry by the toolkit's standards-validation campaign (in ntn-cho's test suite).

For prerequisites and per-module setup, see INSTALL.md. For the full toolkit build, see the toolkit repository.

Standards implemented

3GPP TR 38.821 (NTN reference constellations, Set-1 and Set-2 parameters, free-space link budget), TR 38.811 (NTN geometry and elevation dependence). SGP4 and SDP4 orbital propagation per the standard Vallado formulation, CCSDS-style contact graph routing concepts.

Keywords

LEO constellation, mega-constellation, Walker-Delta, Walker-Star, SGP4, two-line element, TLE, orbital propagation, ephemeris, inter-satellite link, ISL, contact graph routing, contact plan, satellite topology, Starlink, OneWeb, Iridium, CelesTrak, satellite visibility, elevation angle, slant range, non-terrestrial network, ns-3.

Author

Muhammad Uzair, Independent Researcher ORCID 0009-0002-4104-2680

Part of the ns3-ntn-toolkit, a pre-integrated ns-3.43 platform for 6G non-terrestrial network research. Mirrored on GitLab.

License

GPL-2.0-only, matching ns-3.