{"categories":[{"label":"Astronomy","url":"https://skillfed.io/packages/category/scientific-engineering-astronomy"}],"enrichment":{"capability":"Computes satellite positions in Earth orbit from TLE or OMM orbital elements using the official SGP4/SDP4 propagation algorithms, with optional C++ acceleration and pure-Python fallback.","skillfed_tags":["astrodynamics","satellite-tracking","orbital-mechanics"],"use_cases":["Track International Space Station or other known satellites by loading their TLE and computing positions at specific times.","Build a satellite pass predictor that determines when a satellite will be visible from a ground location.","Validate or debug TLE data by checking whether parsed orbital elements produce physically reasonable positions.","Compute satellite positions for a large batch of times and satellites using the accelerated array routine.","Integrate satellite propagation into a mission planning or conjunction assessment tool."],"what_it_does":"SGP4 is a Python wrapper around the official C++ implementation of the Simplified General Perturbations (SGP4) and Simplified Deep Space Perturbations (SDP4) satellite propagation algorithms. It takes Two-Line Element (TLE) sets or OMM (Orbit Mean Elements Message) data\u2014the standard formats for describing satellite orbits\u2014and computes the satellite's position and velocity at any given time. The package automatically selects between SGP4 (for low Earth orbit, periods under 225 minutes) and SDP4 (for higher orbits) based on the orbital parameters.\n\nThe package includes a fast C++ implementation that compiles on most systems, but falls back to a slower pure-Python version if compilation fails, ensuring portability. Results are returned as raw x,y,z Cartesian coordinates in the True Equator Mean Equinox (TEME) reference frame\u2014an Earth-centered inertial frame. The package does not perform coordinate transformations to other frames (J2000, ICRS, ECEF, WGS84) or compute latitude/longitude; those conversions are left to higher-level astronomy libraries like Skyfield, which builds on top of this one.","worth_installing":"Yes. SGP4 is actively maintained, has no runtime dependencies, compiles cleanly on most systems with a pure-Python fallback, carries an MIT license with no restrictions, and has no known vulnerabilities. Install it if you need to compute satellite positions from TLE or OMM data; it is the standard Python interface to the official SGP4 algorithm."},"id":"sgp4","links":{"html":"https://skillfed.io/packages/sgp4","md":"https://skillfed.io/packages/sgp4.md","pypi":"https://pypi.org/project/sgp4/"},"maintenance":{"status":"active"},"meta":{"latest_release":"2026-07-03","license_spdx":"MIT","license_treatment":"permissive","name":"sgp4","python_support":"supports_current","summary":"The C++ SGP4 routine that, given an Earth satellite TLE, computes its position."},"popularity":{"monthly_downloads":1039036,"position":4457,"tier":"top_5000"},"security":{"n_vulnerabilities":0},"version":"2.27"}