SatTrack

SatTrack is a lightweight full‑stack web app for tracking satellites above your sky, visualizing orbits in 3D, and sharing community observations. It combines accurate orbital data (TLE), server-side pass predictions, and a collaborative observations feed (likes, replies, nested comments).
Explore the Features »

Features

• Interactive 3D globe (Cesium) with satellite markers.
• Personal watchlist: add/remove satellites, share/import watchlists.
• Pass predictions tailored to your location (server-side propagation).
• Observations feed with: public posts, likes, nested replies/comments.
• Robust CSRF protection and session security
• Server-side geocoding using Nominatim (change location from UI).
• Responsive dashboard and helpful guide modal for new users.

Core Web Pages

Page	Description
Landing / Home (index.php)	Project landing and quick actions (intro, login/register, demo link).
Dashboard (dashboard.php)	User dashboard with the interactive globe, watchlist, upcoming passes, and observations feed.
Login (login.php) / Register (register.php)	User authentication and account creation.
Observations (observations.php)	Community feed to post observations, like, and reply (nested comments supported).
Pass Predictions (passes.php)	Server-side pass predictions personalized to user location and watchlist.
Profile (profile.php)	Manage account details, location, and watchlist import/export.
Watchlist API (api/add_watchlist.php, api/remove_watchlist.php)	AJAX endpoints to add/remove satellites from a personal watchlist.
About (about.php) / Help (help.php)	Project information, guides, and UI help.
Developer/Test (test.php)	Misc developer/testing utilities (not part of user-facing UI).

Database Design - ERD Diagram

Tech Stack

Technology	Purpose
HTML5 / CSS3 / Tailwind (CDN) / CesiumJS / satellite.js	Frontend structure and design
Vanilla JS	Client-side interactivity
PHP(mysqli)	Backend logic and data handling
MySQL	Database management (migrations in migrations/ and database/schema.sql)
Git & GitHub	Version control and collaboration
Other libs	Three.js (visuals), Nominatim (geocoding), N2YO/CelesTrak for seeding

Preview

Dashboard

Logout

System Flow Diagram

Requirements

• PHP 8+, MySQL, and a local webserver (XAMPP/Apache recommended on Windows)
• Composer is not required for core app code but may be helpful for tooling

Installation Guide

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/marzafiee/SatTrack.git
   

2. Create a database and apply migrations (or import database/schema.sql).

• Using MySQL CLI or phpMyAdmin: import database/schema.sql and then run migration SQL files in migrations/ if needed.
• Open phpMyAdmin
• Create a new database (e.g., attendance_db)
• Import the .sql file located in the /database folder

3. Copy the example .env and set values (create .env in sattrack/):

   DB_HOST=localhost
   DB_NAME=sattrack
   DB_USER=root
   DB_PASS=
   N2YO_API_KEY=
   CESIUM_TOKEN=

4. Seed satellite data (optional):

• Use database/seed_satellites.php if you want to import a sample dataset for development.

5. Run the project

• Start your local server (e.g., XAMPP or WAMP)
• Visit http://localhost/sattrack/ (or your webserver's configured path)

Database migrations & local changes

• Schema files: database/schema.sql
• Migrations directory: migrations/ (contains SQL to add likes/comments, parent comment support, etc.)

Tip: For small changes or testing, use phpMyAdmin or mysql CLI:

mysql -u root -p sattrack < database/schema.sql
mysql -u root -p sattrack < migrations/add_parent_to_observation_comments.sql

API endpoints (selected)

These are used by the front-end JavaScript and are located in api/:

• api/get_tle_data.php — fetch TLE for watchlist satellites
• api/add_watchlist.php — add satellite to watchlist
• api/remove_watchlist.php — remove from watchlist
• api/update_location.php — resolve location (Nominatim) and save lat/lng
• api/add_observation.php — create an observation (CSRF-protected)
• api/add_comment.php — add comment/reply to an observation (supports parent_comment_id)
• api/get_comments.php — get nested comments for an observation
• api/toggle_like.php — like/unlike an observation

All write endpoints require login and CSRF token (hidden input[name="csrf"] in forms). Successful AJAX actions return csrf_new to rotate tokens and avoid stale-token errors.

Front-end behavior & UX notes

• Observations feed supports nested replies (unbounded depth) and in-place updates.
• The globe shows colored markers for satellites even if TLEs are temporarily missing (placeholder markers), and shows orbits when TLEs are available.
• Sidebar help button is pinned to the bottom of the watchlist regardless of length.

Security notes

• Sessions use HttpOnly, SameSite=Strict, and Secure when HTTPS is present.
• CSRF tokens are stored server-side in csrf_tokens table; a session fallback is used if DB writes fail (to avoid "invalid CSRF token" issues during development).
• In production, serve over HTTPS and set secure cookie flags.

Testing & Troubleshooting

• If you see "invalid csrf token" when submitting forms:

  • Ensure PHP sessions are working (session cookie present) and DB is reachable.
  • The system now falls back to session-stored tokens if DB insert fails.
  • After successful AJAX writes, the server returns csrf_new — the client updates the token automatically.

• If the globe is empty:

  • Confirm api/get_tle_data.php returns satellite data for your watchlist.
  • Placeholder markers are shown if TLEs are missing; orbits require valid TLEs.

Contributors

_marzafiee

Contributing

• Fork the repo, create a branch, and open a PR describing the change.
• Tests: manual UI/UX testing is used; aim to add regression checks for critical behaviors (CSRF, comment nesting, watchlist add/remove).
• If adding DB migrations, place them in migrations/ and include ALTER TABLE statements for incremental updates.

Credits

• Contributors: see repo blame/commits
• Libraries & services: CesiumJS, satellite.js, Three.js, OpenStreetMap/Nominatim, N2YO/CelesTrak APIs.

License

• Distributed under the MIT License.
• See LICENSE for more information.

Submission Links

• GitHub Repository: SatTrack Repo
• View Live Site here: Demo SatTrack