Cesium for Omniverse v0.25.0

Cesium for Unity Samples v1.16.2

CesiumJS 1.131

Aerospace

Hobu, Inc., with its deep roots in open-source geospatial, has led the contributions of standards and tools such as PROJJSON, ASPRS LAS, Cloud Optimized Point Cloud (COPC), and the Point Data Abstraction Library (PDAL). To enable Hobu’s users to visualize and interact with massive point clouds and raster data, the company developed its browser-based Eptium viewer using CesiumJS.

Eptium builds upon CesiumJS to allow users to directly visualize and interact with COPC and Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF in the browser in 3D. Supporting these archive and transmission formats reduces data duplication and conveniently enables visualization of commonly available cloud content. Eptium makes city- or country-scale point cloud datasets accessible for visualization and analysis on the web, especially for disadvantaged users. Streamlined access to massive cloud-based datasets enables interactivity and understanding for a broad audience, including those in the field or students and professionals using devices without high-end graphics capabilities.

Eptium users can perform multipoint observer line-of-sight (LOS) analysis, generate viewsheds, and export GeoTIFF or SVG images directly from the browser without the need for specialized desktop software. They are able to collaborate by saving and sharing application view state as links. Customers use Eptium as a complete web application, build with it as a JavaScript developer bundle, or directly use it for free by visiting eptium.com and pointing at their own data.

Point cloud and viewshed of Montreal, Canada, in Eptium. Courtesy Hobu.

Distribution of point clouds as COPC eliminates the need for extensive preprocessing or local storage of large files. Eptium consumes COPC data on the fly, converting it into 3D Tiles in-browser for efficient streaming. Eptium optionally uses Cesium World Terrain via Cesium ion and Bing Maps Aerial imagery for additional geospatial context. For a comprehensive picture of areas of interest, this data is fused in CesiumJS, which was built for interactive web apps and scaling for massive datasets.

Eptium, COPC, and CesiumJS also power the moonlidar.com application that Hobu's Connor Manning created in support of NASA’s recomputation of the Moon’s elevation.

The Hobu team uses CesiumJS for moonlidar.com. Courtesy Hobu.

By combining Hobu's expertise with CesiumJS, the Hobu team empowers geospatial users by making complex 3D data accessible and actionable.

Learn to build your own CesiumJS app for 3D geospatial visualization and analysis on the web by following our tutorials.

Hobu's Eptium Visualizes Country-Scale Point Clouds with CesiumJS

With Ansys Systems Tool Kit (STK), engineers model land, sea, air, and space scenarios to understand the relationships among vehicles, payloads, facilities, and environments, including terrain. Ansys Geospatial Data Cloud (GDC) integrates Cesium ion Self-Hosted and global 3D content to provide STK with out-of-the-box access to accurate geospatial context within its time-dynamic simulations.

UAV over Boston in Ansys STK, with Geospatial Data Cloud using Cesium ion Self-Hosted. Courtesy Ansys.

STK was released in 1989 to serve US and allied aerospace and defense organizations, and GDC will be available to STK users in July 2025. Users may create virtual worlds including buildings, terrain, and other physical structures. Subsequently, an infinite number of simulation configurations may be exercised, resulting in a significant reduction in the dependence on physical prototypes.

Using Cesium, GDC will replace Ansys’ Geospatial Content Server, removing the need to develop and maintain their own real-world data, tilers, and hosting solution.

“Being able to use Cesium ion Self-Hosted has saved a significant number of man hours that can be redirected towards additional ways to take advantage of the unprecedented access to data. We estimate the time savings to be the equivalent of half a full-time employee,” the Ansys team noted.  

Cesium has helped Ansys enhance mission modeling since 2011.

Communication signal to noise over Boston in Ansys STK, with Geospatial Data Cloud using Cesium ion Self Hosted. Courtesy Ansys.

Cesium ion Self-Hosted provides hosting, tiling, and streaming for massive heterogeneous 3D geospatial datasets in users’ own clouds, data centers, or edge devices, enabling air-gapped solutions that meet strict security requirements and can be deployed to remote, disconnected environments.

GDC accesses Cesium World Terrain, Cesium World Bathymetry, Cesium OSM Buildings, Japan 3D Buildings and Terrain, and Cesium Moon Terrain via Cesium ion Self-Hosted. Accurate elevation data, depth data, and per-building metadata support planning and analysis in critical simulations. Cesium OSM Buildings are streamed as 3D Tiles in conjunction with Cesium World Terrain or Cesium World Bathymetry. Users can add their own datasets to be tiled into 3D Tiles for optimal streaming and visualization in STK.

UAV flying low over Boston in Ansys STK, with Geospatial Data Cloud using Cesium ion Self-Hosted.

Real-world data enables clearer pictures for analysis and decisions in complex multidomain scenarios.

Create and host 3D content in your own environment with Cesium ion Self-Hosted, and visit Ansys in the Cesium booth at GEOINT Symposium, #2231, to see Geospatial Data Cloud in action.

Hear from Ansys at the 2025 Cesium Developer Conference. Register to join us in Philadelphia in June.

Ansys Uses Cesium ion Self-Hosted for Geospatial Data Cloud

Our third installment highlights two more tracks at the 2025 Cesium Developer Conference: community-contributed aerospace and defense topics and sessions on Cesium, iTwin, OGC 3D Tiles, and other open technologies compiled by the teams at Cesium and Bentley Systems who work on them.

With Cesium’s roots in aerospace and commitment to interoperability and rapid innovation for tackling the hardest problems in 3D geospatial, we were excited to receive a group of full and lightning talk submissions focused on space, the Moon, flight systems, and mission-critical visualization and analysis.

To provide the community with a closer look into the advancements happening with Cesium and 3D Tiles, we decided to group a set of talks from the Platform team in Bentley Systems. The Platform team comprises development teams from Cesium, iTwin, and iTwin Capture, bringing together global geospatial, cloud-based-BIM (building information modeling), and reality capture.

Register for the Cesium Developer Conference

Calculating access to communications satellites in DigitalArsenal's OrbPro. Courtesy DigitalArsenal.

In today’s complex geopolitical environment, we’re seeing expanded interest in access to open geospatial technologies. Recent investments in the space industry have created satellite constellations with thousands of new spacecraft in just the last few years, and we’re hearing from developers who want to implement full global geospatial 3D experiences for training, planning, operations, and analysis.

These trends are reflected in the talk submissions we grouped in the Aerospace and Defense track, including:

A presentation by Maxar on 3D Tiles and One World Terrain

A photogrammetry sandbox built with Cesium for Unreal by the French Air Force

A flight status indication system from Takram

Military planning using agentic AI from our former colleague Brady Moore

Astronaut training on the Moon with Buendea

The Aerospace and Defense sessions are in a track the morning of June 24, and a series of seven lightning talks will be featured during the afternoon of the 24th on the main stage.

Maxar Precision3D Surface Model of Kabul International Airport. Courtesy Maxar Technologies.

We want the community to take center stage, and we want to feature enough sessions that developers can get a taste of what is happening now that Cesium is part of Bentley Systems.

The track focusing on Cesium, iTwin, and 3D Tiles will feature sessions on topics such as:

Bringing AI analytical tools for reality capture data into Cesium ion

Working with BIM data and the Design Tiler

How Gaussian splats and 3D Tiles are coming together

An exploration of new user interfaces combining geospatial and BIM data from the Bentley iLab team

The Cesium, iTwin, and 3D Tiles track will run through the morning of June 24 and into the morning of June 25.

You can find out more about what’s happening with Cesium and 3D Tiles in the pre-conference Cesium Deep Dive workshop and in mainstage presentations.

An iModel of a Philadelphia Metrostation on top of an iTwin Reality Mesh shown in CesiumJS.

There are six tracks with over 90 full sessions and lightning talks. We’ll be releasing more information about our fantastic mainstage presentations soon, including a closing session that will feature two reality capture stories featured in recent news!

The full agenda for the conference is live. Read more about this year’s tracks on the Cesium blog.

Our speakers are excited to meet up with industry colleagues, share learnings, and hear feedback. Register to attend and connect with the community in Philadelphia. We’ll see you there.

Aerospace, Defense, and Open Geospatial Technologies at the Cesium Developer Conference

NASA calls the Moon “a treasure trove of science.” Buendea uses Cesium Moon Terrain to support NASA’s Advanced Operations Concepts Lab (NAOCL), ensuring astronauts’ virtual training accurately reflects the lunar environments they’ll encounter when they leave home.

Cesium Moon Terrain in XOSS supporting NASA’s Advanced Operations Concepts Lab. Courtesy Buendea and NAOCL. 

Buendea uses Cesium Moon Terrain to support NASA's Advanced Operations Concepts Lab, specifically the Artemis missions.

Buendea XOSS

Scientific discovery around life off Earth—rock samples and water, for example—will require specific tools and training. XR Operations Support System (XOSS) is a collaboration between Buendea and NAOCL, based out of Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, USA, to train astronauts in an accurate 3D lunar environment. 

XOSS users have the entire Moon in their simulation and can further immerse themselves in nine potential landing and habitation sites near the lunar South Pole, where Cesium Moon Terrain has its highest resolution data and Buendea has added additional high-res surface data. In VR mode, astronauts learn to board rovers, use tools to repair equipment, and work together. Admins running the sessions can trigger equipment failures or weather events to provide safe, repeatable learning experiences. 

Buendea and NAOCL provide XOSS for other facilities to work with as a tool to integrate into their workflows for training and simulation. NASA Assessments of Physiology in Cognition for Hybrid Reality Environments (APACHE) carries out human performance studies using XOSS to prepare astronauts for traverses on the Moon, measuring biometric data and other outputs from these moonwalks. Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) and Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) are both habitat environments at JSC that use XOSS to carry out analog simulated activities for Moon and Mars surface operations. Other groups use XOSS as a digital twin to carry out ad-hoc or science activities for extravehicular activity and intravehicular activity (EVA/IVA). 

Buendea was an early adopter of Cesium Moon Terrain and has used this geospatial base since its August 2024 release. 

XOSS in VR mode. Courtesy Buendea and NAOCL.

Buendea founder Julian Reyes shared that the requirement from NASA was a platform that would deliver the entirety of the Moon in Unreal Engine. Reyes and his team were prepared to build a model of the Moon themselves. Today, XOSS accesses Cesium Moon Terrain via Cesium ion and Cesium for Unreal. 

“By integrating Cesium Moon Terrain into our Unreal XOSS project, we were able to stand up our base integration of the lunar deployment instantly. This enabled us to start with developing and adding in our high-resolution surface terrain tiles directly into the deployment—and effectively cut our development time by more than 50%,” said Reyes, who will present XOSS at the 2025 Cesium Developer Conference. 

Cesium Moon Terrain is the first complete, accurate, and readily accessible 3D dataset of the Moon. Served as 3D Tiles via Cesium ion, it enables visualization, simulation, and analysis for advanced digital twin creation. 

XOSS currently accesses Cesium Moon Terrain via Cesium ion SaaS. In the near future, the platform will run internally at NASA via Cesium ion Self-Hosted to meet strict security requirements and enable a common workspace as more prototyping is done within XOSS. Buendea connects Cesium ion to its Unreal Engine projects via the open source Cesium for Unreal plugin, pulling in real-world content so astronauts learn among the terrain they expect to see. 

With an accurate lunar base already deployed, Buendea’s developers have been able to focus their time on incorporating additional surface data, including topographic images from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and photogrammetry of sample rocks from the Apollo missions; adding accurate physics for dispersing regolith on moon when driving; integrating AI for robotics support and geological identification; and modifying lighting to accurately reflect the elongated shadows the lunar South Pole experiences. Fusing graphics capabilities and validated data from many sources in one platform means collaborating groups get a comprehensive view and can prototype and design within XOSS, all on top of Cesium Moon Terrain. 

XOSS users can immerse themselves in nine potential landing and habitation sites near the lunar South Pole. Courtesy Buendea and NAOCL.

Buendea plans to deploy XOSS internally at NASA, among commercial partners, and publicly, for open community development toward our shared future of human spaceflight. 

Both Buendea and Cesium are at the 40th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs this week, April 7-10, 2025. Meet us in booth #628. 

To add Cesium Moon Terrain to your Cesium for Unreal projects, follow this guide. 

Buendea Supports NASA Advanced Operations Concepts Lab with Cesium Moon Terrain 

COMSPOC, a commercial provider of space situational awareness (SSA) software, has released Spacebook to make space data free to access and visualize with the help of CesiumJS. Because space is crowded and sometimes contentious, awareness is critical; with Spacebook, the space community can compare data. 

Spacebook was released in September 2024 to make space data freely available to the space community.

Spacebook was released in September 2024 to make space data freely available to the space community. Courtesy COMSPOC.

COMSPOC Spacebook

Spacebook was released in September 2024. A central repository for space data and advancing the industry, “Wikipedia for space,” Spacebook is a concept the COMSPOC team had been discussing for a decade. COMSPOC itself has been operating every minute since 2014, and visualization tools in its SSASuite are built on Cesium.  

For free, Spacebook users are able to download current and historical position, weather, and error data; visualize the data in the Cesium-powered Explorer; and expand their knowledge with technical papers and videos available on comspoc.com. Those in government, industry, and education are encouraged to create saved views with the resources, investigating individual space objects or even performing flight safety analysis. Visualizations can be saved with a free account. 

With Cesium, Spacebook’s Explorer viewer enables users to display orbit tracks and covariance ellipsoids for objects, color-code groups of objects or modify dot sizes for easy visual identification, and adjust animation speed. COMSPOC shared an anecdote of an educator in Hawaii, USA, who got a permit to launch a cubesat. Using Spacebook, her university and high-school students are able to track this satellite in 3D in near real time and do their own SSA analysis. 

Spacebook users can download space weather data, compare orbits with the CesiumJS-powered Explorer, and dig into technical papers and videos. Courtesy COMSPOC. 

Position property average, for example, is calculated 10 times a second for 26,000 objects in Spacebook, so locations are constantly updated. Spacebook data uses two-line element (TLE) sets for object position data, SGP4-xp for improved orbital predictions, and synthetic covariance for comparing TLEs. COMSPOC acquires this information from Space-Track, CelesTrak, and the US government and intends to accept data from users in the future, too. These massive datasets of thousands of points are visualized in conjunction with a high-precision WGS84 globe in CesiumJS, accurately displaying object location at a given time in interactive 3D to enhance situational awareness and learning.  

“Having great data is one thing. A functional, friendly viewer that gives users the sizzle and shows the data is another. We were able to bring in other features because we didn’t have to worry about rebuilding the globe. Our expertise is in space analytics, not 3D modeling and engine design. Using Cesium lets us get to our expertise as soon as possible,” said Steve Shogren, development lead for Spacebook.

Interactively investigate individual space objects or perform analyses in a web browser with Spacebook. Courtesy COMSPOC.

Although COMSPOC recently released Spacebook, the team is already working on more data sources and new features.  

Check out how other aerospace companies are using Cesium, and try it today to make your space apps precise, detailed, and shareable. 

Spacebook Makes Space Data Accessible for All with CesiumJS 

“Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator” enables players to experience the evolution of human spaceflight, blending a game with a simulator, so users learn to operate spacecraft with realistic procedures and, soon, Cesium Moon Terrain.

Reentry is used for both fun and research. Creator Petri Wilhelmsen is replacing his homebuilt Moon renderer with Cesium Moon Terrain. Courtesy Petri Wilhelmsen.

Reentry is used for both fun and research. Creator Petri Wilhelmsen is replacing his homebuilt Moon renderer with Cesium Moon Terrain.

Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator

Reentry users make their way through NASA’s Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo while studying the history of human spaceflight and gaining practical skills. The ultimate goal is to land on the Moon.

A select group of players called “test pilots” will be the first to orbit and walk on Cesium Moon Terrain in Reentry, with this feature available to other users in early 2025.

Reentry is not limited to gamers. Creator Petri Wilhelmsen tailors instances of the simulator for aerospace industry agencies, and users are also testing VR implementation. 

These immersive 3D trainings bring aerospace professionals up to speed with realistic models and simulations for studies and research related to human space exploration. Wilhelmsen can build in failures or events so organizations can see how people behave in these situations, such as loss of power, fuel management, and isolation.

Lunar Module in orbit around the Cesium Moon. Courtesy Petri Wilhelmsen.

Wilhelmsen began working on Unity-based Reentry in 2015. It was released as “early access” on Steam in 2018 and remained a hobby for Wilhelmsen until summer 2024, when he joined Helsinki-based studio Lyra Creative and Reentry became his full-time project. Members of Lyra Creative are focused on immersive experiences, expanding users’ views and vital training opportunities.

View from the commander's window of the Apollo Command Module. Courtesy Petri Wilhelmsen.

Within a few hours of hearing about Cesium Moon Terrain, Wilhelmsen began incorporating it into Reentry via Cesium ion and Cesium for Unity. Cesium Moon Terrain is accurate, complete 3D Tiles of the lunar surface, enabling 3D visualizations, simulations, and analytics.

“Having a digital twin of the Moon, where craters and all the details of the Moon can be explored, is vital,” said Wilhelmsen. “Creating my own streamable Moon renderer is beyond my own capabilities, and, by using Cesium, I can instead focus on other aspects of the game.” 

Wilhelmsen reports it took only 30 minutes to replace his lower fidelity Moon with Cesium Moon Terrain.

The Command Module Columbia looking down at the Apollo 11 landing site. Courtesy Petri Wilhelmsen.

The launch pad and spacecraft in Reentry are from asset stores, but he also makes some assets himself using Blender. The laser scan of the Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, for example, is from the Smithsonian Institution; Wilhelmsen modified it for Reentry to improve the panels. These assets are loaded directly into Unity.

Users in orbit see not only the Moon but also Earth—the Cesium globe via Cesium for Unity enables accurate, realistic visualizations for both enthusiastic gamers and those who are training and pushing boundaries. In the future, Wilehelmsen may incorporate Cesium World Terrain and satellite imagery for the launch areas, to add to the accuracy on Earth.

The Lunar Module preparing for descent and landing on the lunar surface. Courtesy Petri Wilhelmsen.

A number of users have remarked to Wilhelmsen that they remember events during these early space programs, and they are reliving the thrill and pride of humanity’s progress with Reentry. 

To add Cesium Moon Terrain and other curated 3D data to your simulation, sign up for a Cesium ion account.

“Reentry” Blends Gaming and Training with Cesium Moon Terrain

Today, we are thrilled to share that Cesium Moon Terrain, the first readily accessible single, comprehensive 3D Tileset of the Moon, is now available.

Cesium Moon Terrain is composed of precise terrain and imagery from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) program and other sources, and is provided as 3D Tiles, the Open Geospatial Consortium Community Standard created by Cesium.

Cesium Moon Terrain is the first complete, precise, and readily-accessible 3D Tileset of the Moon. Sign up or Sign in to Cesium ion to explore. 

Learn more at Cesium.com

Cesium Moon Terrain

“We launched Cesium Moon Terrain as an accurate and interoperable 3D Tiles canvas to support the international interest in lunar exploration and building structures on the moon's surface,” said Cesium CEO Patrick Cozzi. “Cesium Moon Terrain will enable engineers, system integrators, and digital content creators to build simulations, mission plans, and real-time operations experiences.”

Cesium Moon Terrain visualized in Cesium for Unreal

Cesium Moon Terrain was recently demonstrated at the Digital Twin for Lunar Development Workshop held at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The workshop brought the space enterprise community together to focus on advancing digital twins for NASA and the creation of an open, interoperable platform for a lunar digital ecosystem.

As early adopters, Ansys has utilized 3D Tiles in both their Systems Tool Kit (STK) and their RF Channel Modeler software to help users easily incorporate geospatially accurate datasets into their digital mission modeling and systems modeling engineering capabilities. Users are able to directly understand impacts of terrain in challenging locations such as lunar polar regions to accurately analyze communications system designs.

The Copernicus Crater, visualized in Cesium for Unreal

Another early adopter, Buendea, is collaborating with the NASA Advanced Operations Concept Lab on developing the XR Operations Support System (XOSS) to support real-time simulations on the Moon and Mars. Buendea is interested in Cesium Moon Terrain for its potential to enhance their ongoing projects.


“We’re excited about the potential of Cesium Moon Terrain to accelerate our work, including our efforts with NASA, to accurately plan and simulate explorations of the lunar surface,” said Julian Reyes, Founder of Buendea.

Cesium's Dave Braig presenting at the Digital Twins for Lunar Development Workshop at NASA's JPL

To access Cesium Moon Terrain, sign up for an account, or sign in to Cesium ion and add the tileset to your Asset Library from the Cesium ion Asset Depot. Once added, create a Cesium Story, incorporate the data into a web application with CesiumJS, or build advanced visualizations with Cesium for Unreal and Cesium for Unity.

Each of these visualization engines have been updated to enable non-WGS84 based ellipsoids to support an accurate representation of the lunar surface for analysis and measurements. Cesium Moon Terrain is also available for Cesium ion Self-Hosted. 

With Cesium Moon Terrain, users can leverage the same workflows and functionality already available in our open source runtime engines. Use Cesium Moon Terrain as a base layer to place models of habitats, vehicles, or rovers on the lunar surface.  If you have your own high resolution terrain data, clip and inset it within Cesium Moon Terrain so that your projects can live within a single continuous 3D surface rather than multiple separate project areas. 

NASA's ambitious Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon and eventually land them on Mars. With this, along with initiatives from SpaceX, Boeing, BlueOrigin and others, the demand for an open, interoperable, standards-based platform has never been greater. Cesium Moon Terrain meets this demand, providing a versatile foundation for countless applications.

We look forward to seeing your projects built with Cesium Moon Terrain! Sign up or sign in to get started.

To introduce students to the space industry, New Ascent launches “ChipSats” to gather environmental info and tracks their descent in 3D as part of MISSION: SubSpace, an in-classroom aerospace mission experience that uses an interactive web portal built on CesiumJS.

Students get their own mission control experiences with MISSION: SubSpace. Courtesy New Ascent.

Students get their own mission control experiences with Mission: SubSpace, powered by CesiumJS. Courtesy New Ascent.

Misson: SubSpace by New Ascent

New Ascent is a STEM education company, focusing on the impacts of the space industry on daily life by engaging students in grades 3-12 in real science missions. MISSION: SubSpace was released in 2023 to show young learners that they can be involved in space without being an astronaut. 

This educational experience uses ChipSats—among the smallest spacecraft, fitting into an adult human’s hand—originally developed by Cornell University and armed with sensors and radio comms. Today, New Ascent uses drones to take the ChipSats up to altitude (usually about 2-4 miles above Earth) and release them. In the future, they plan to use an in-house-developed launch system to deploy at heights above weather balloons (about 10-20 miles above Earth) but below satellites (minimum 100 miles above Earth).

As the ChipSats descend above Spaceport America in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, USA, MISSION: SubSpace populates with figures from the ChipSats, allowing students to visualize the accurate locations of their own tiny satellites in 3D and observe and analyze temperature, pressure, and other data. 

“We want to get kids involved with highly engaging tools. Visuals are huge in learning, especially STEM. The centerpiece of the portal is the 3D visualization using Cesium; it’s not just points on a map anymore,” said co-founder and CEO Rob Quigley.

New Ascent’s ChipSats are approximately 4 inches by 1 inch by 1/4 inch. US quarter for scale. Courtesy New Ascent.

As the ChipSats hurtle down through our atmosphere, they transmit and store environmental data, which is then packaged as a CSV file. This time-series data is combined with high-resolution real-world terrain and imagery from Cesium World Terrain and Bing Maps Aerial imagery via Cesium ion, streamed as 3D Tiles to CesiumJS on student laptops, which are often not as robust as those of professionals. Although the ChipSats descend in New Mexico, classrooms anywhere can access CesiumJS-powered MISSION: SubSpace. Quigley reports he has had more than 120 students signed into the web portal at once, each with their own mission control experience, observing and analyzing time-dynamic data.

MISSION: SubSpace has used CesiumJS from the start, as Quigley had relied on it for trajectory visualization for a different project years ago. With Cesium’s accuracy and ease of use, Quigley knew it would be right for students with varying degrees of tech savvy. 

“Using Cesium let us get the portal going in a matter of weeks vs. months,” said Quigley.

ChipSats transmit data about their journeys through Earth’s atmosphere, replayed for and analyzed by students using CesiumJS. Courtesy New Ascent.

New Ascent is working toward near-real-time data visualization for MISSION: SubSpace and plans to include other launch sites, including international locations, as they inspire the next generation of aerospace professionals.

Explore how students and researchers are learning about our planet and beyond with Cesium.

New Ascent Brings Space to Students with CesiumJS

Airlines have long collected flight data from multiple sensors on air vehicles, including information on unsafe landings or other procedures at airports. GE Aerospace, Software as a Service's FlightPulse app enables pilots to prepare for upcoming flights and review their final approaches in 3D with an animation module by APS Aerospace Corp., powered by CesiumJS.

Example from FlightPulse demo dataset showing unstable approach into Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. App users see terrain and instrumentation in 3D. Courtesy GE Aerospace, Software as a Service.

Example from FlightPulse demo dataset showing unstable approach into Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. App users see terrain and instrumentation in 3D. Courtesy GE Aerospace.

FlightPulse by GE Aerospace and APS Aerospace Corp.

FlightPulse is an iOS native app first released in 2017 as part of GE Aerospace, Software as a Service's Flight Analytics package for airlines, and 3D animation was introduced in 2022, displaying both terrain and air vehicle instrumentation. The Preflight module enables pilots to prepare for upcoming flights, homing in on specific airports and trajectories, such as holding procedures, and becoming acquainted with approaches they may not have flown before. With the Postflight module, pilots have secure access to their individual flight histories to review their own operations for improvement. Currently, more than 30,000 pilots use the app.

"Animating flights in FlightPulse using the playback functionality powered by APS and Cesium is one of the most compelling features for pilots. In talking with our customers who have deployed it, the results have shown that it drives recurring user engagement and more proactive safety debriefings," said Jonathan Morrell, FlightPulse product manager at GE Aerospace, Software as a Service.

The 3D animation module is the work of a collaboration between GE Aerospace, Software as a Service and APS Aerospace Corp. (previously Applied Informatics and Research Inc.), which has done flight data analysis and flight animation since the 1980s. APS has been using Cesium for years to share and interact with dynamic geospatial data in 3D. For FlightPulse, APS drapes Mapbox 2D imagery over Cesium World Terrain, served as 3D Tiles via Cesium ion, pairing time-series data with precise real-world locations in CesiumJS for easy interpretation and streaming to pilots’ handheld devices. Built on open formats, CesiumJS is designed for robust interoperability and scaling for massive datasets.

“WebGL and standards for 3D on the web are vital,” said JS Theriault, CTO of APS and principal technical point of contact for GE’s Cesium apps. “The Cesium component gives you the entire world. We’re a small company and could not afford to create all of this on our own.”

For 3D animations in the Postflight module, pilots see only their own flights, including those that may have triggered a safety event, such as descent speed above airline guidelines. Courtesy GE Aerospace, Software as a Service.

With 3D animation in FlightPulse, pilots are encouraged to take an active role in flight safety and fuel efficiency. 

Cesium ion includes access to curated global 3D content. Sign up for a Cesium ion account to combine these assets with your own and create an interactive aerospace app.

GE Aerospace’s FlightPulse Enables Pilots to Review Landings with CesiumJS

Observing a total solar eclipse is a unique and powerful astronomical experience. The difference between 99% and 100% eclipse coverage is vast because the disc of the sun is so bright that even 1% of it blindingly outshines all of the stars in the sky. To truly block out all of the sun high in the sky is absolutely worth the effort to see in person at least once in a lifetime!

In the United States, after many decades with no total eclipse opportunities, a pair of chances finally arrived… and is almost behind us. The first came August 21, 2017. The second is just a few weeks away: April 8, 2024. After that it’ll be 21 years until the next chance to see a total solar eclipse in the continental US (August 12, 2045).

So… where to go? And how to set oneself up for success?

Tracing the path of totality in EclipseTracks.org

Tracing the path of totality in the April 2024 solar eclipse

EclipseTracks.org

Some years ago, as the 2017 eclipse approached, I wanted a tool to plan my first encounter with a total solar eclipse. So became EclipseTracks.org, a Cesium-powered visualizer of total solar eclipse tracks across the surface of the Earth.

The versatility of the open source Cesium platform made the process of visualizing over 100 years of eclipses straightforward. Raw eclipse track data from NASA is scraped, parsed, and transmuted into CZML to be served up in a single-page web application. The full source for the application and data processing pipeline is available on GitHub.

Recent additions to EclipseTracks.org include terrain support. This will come in especially handy in 2045 as the path of totality cuts right across the core of my lovely and mountainous home state, Colorado.

Terrain in EclipseTracks.org makes it easier to see areas that will be within the path of totality.

Another update is emulation of “bookmarkable” URLs much like other mapping web apps such as Google or Bing maps. The image above is no longer relegated to only a screenshot; see it live here. Changing the camera position updates the url with the current state of the camera and clock so one can return to (or share) the exact view of an eclipse event at a point in time and space.

Tips for a successful total solar eclipse encounter

You may need to outrun clouds. Know your routes along the path of totality in both directions. Expect lots of crowds and lots of traffic so keep your vehicle fueled up and filled with food, water, and anything else you may need for many hours spent on the road.

I strongly recommend learning how to read the forecasts from ClearDarkSky.com. That link is for Buffalo, NY, which is on the path of totality this coming April. These grids of colorful squares are a highly local and highly accurate rolling 48 hour picture of several atmospheric conditions that will affect visibility of anything in the sky, including cloud cover and air transparency. Be watching several observatories along the path from your target viewing location up to the day of the eclipse to get an idea of whether you may need to relocate.

You’ll need eclipse glasses to look at the partially eclipsed sun, even 99%! A location experiencing three minutes of totality will also experience over an hour of partiality before and after. Inexpensive eclipse glasses are readily available from any general ecommerce website.

If you plan to witness the 2024 total solar eclipse I wish you clear skies and easy travel!

Now, I mentioned that the 2017 event was my first opportunity to see a total solar eclipse. At 35 years old I was able to also provide that first opportunity to my son, who wasn’t yet two. Now, at age seven, I’m thrilled he’ll have another chance to see one (that he’ll now be old enough to remember), especially because when the next umbral shadow of the moon passes over our corner of the planet he’ll be pushing thirty himself. And one of the best parts about chasing such an awe inspiring event is sharing the experience with loved ones by your side.

This is a guest post by Christoph Clark, creator of EclipseTracks.org. - Sarah

Planning Your Solar Eclipse Encounter with Cesium

To warn of on-orbit threats and natural hazards, COMSPOC Corporation uses CesiumJS to deliver space domain awareness and space situational awareness for civil and defense applications in near real time.

COMSPOC Corporation uses CesiumJS to deliver space domain awareness and space situational awareness. Courtesy COMSPOC.

COMSPOC, operating 24/7/365 since 2014, began at Analytical Graphics, Inc. along with Cesium and spun out as a separate company years later. It is the original marquee use case for Cesium.

Space is a busy place: according to celestrak.org, there are more than 28,000 cataloged human-made objects larger than 10 cm orbiting Earth, with over 9,000 of them active satellites, and in 2022 alone the world sent nearly 2,500 objects to space. Sure, space is vast, but Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—with the International Space Station, USGS Landsat satellites, and thousands of telecommunications satellites—is becoming increasingly crowded. Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) is home to GPS satellites, and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) is where you’ll find satellites for communications and weather. 

Although MEO and GEO are enormous, spacecraft must get through LEO on their way to their final orbits and must be physically larger; it’s vital to determine safe launch windows and collision probabilities. Space exploration has included unintentional collision events between satellites on orbit, such as Iridium/Cosmos in 2009, and intentional destruction, such as anti-satellite (ASAT) testing, which the United Nations resolved to halt at the end of 2022. To alert space organizations to these collision possibilities, calculate miss probabilities, and characterize maneuvers and events, COMSPOC relies on CesiumJS for time-dynamic visualizations.

This video illustrates that intentionally, or unintentionally, satellites of different nations or companies more and more often get “close” enough to generate possible collision alerts. Courtesy COMSPOC.

COMSPOC: close approach

COMSPOC processes sensor observation formats, such as right ascension and declination angles or range, and produces orbit solutions in two-line element (TLE) sets or its own high-definition ephemeris format, which provides calculated positions of space objects at regular intervals. This information comes from sensors owned by COMSPOC and those of its data provider partners.

The COMSPOC catalog is scalable to over 100,000 objects. Users don’t need to view the entire catalog COMSPOC is capable of producing; they can filter by orbit regime, country, or mission, for example. Because COMSPOC is built on CesiumJS, it is open, interoperable, and scalable, enabling collaboration and customization—and providing actionable insights to users in near real time, protecting critical assets on orbit and connectivity on Earth.

This video illustrates an attempt to “confuse” custody and attribution of on-orbit satellite operations by showing a satellite “occupy” the space of another satellite, creating uncertainty of object identification. Courtesy COMSPOC.

COMSPOC: confuse custody/attribution

In addition to its data services and products, the COMSPOC team researches space sustainability and orbital debris mitigation, along with a multitude of other topics, and advocates for responsible operations across international security, academia, and civil and commercial space organizations.

Visit COMSPOC in Cesium’s booth #559 at I/ITSEC in Orlando on November 27, 2-6 p.m. ET, and at the Space Sustainability Workshop in Tokyo on November 28.

Explore how other aerospace companies are using Cesium.

COMSPOC Delivers Space Situational Awareness with CesiumJS

To visualize complex multidomain scenarios—from urban environments to deep space—Ansys integrates Cesium with Ansys Systems Tool Kit (STK), Ansys Digital Mission Engineering (DME) Component Libraries, and Ansys RF Channel Modeler.

Both Ansys and Cesium have served the United States’ and allies’ aerospace and defense industries for decades, modeling multidomain systems of systems in time-dynamic environments. These simulations enable engineers to build and test virtually rather than experimenting on multiple physical prototypes, decreasing manufacturing costs and risk.

CesiumJS began at aerospace software company Analytical Graphics, Inc. and spun out as an independent company in 2019. Analytical Graphics, Inc. was then acquired by Ansys, which continues to leverage Cesium technology as Ansys Government Initiatives. 

“Cesium has truly revolutionized the geospatial ecosystem, and driving for modern open standards is phenomenal,” said Shashank Narayan, CTO of Ansys Government Initiatives.

Simulations enable engineers to build and test virtually rather than experimenting on multiple physical prototypes, decreasing manufacturing costs and risk. Courtesy Ansys.

Released in 1989, STK is a physics-based mission modeling environment that incorporates visualization of land, sea, air, and space scenarios and the airplanes, spacecraft, and other vehicles and facilities that go with them. Users can model the relationships among the moving objects and apply constraints, such as clouds, terrain, and buildings, to assess their impact. For example, how might clouds affect imagery collection or navigation? How might flying in a canyon affect radio or internet access? For context and constraints, engineers can use STK's Geospatial Content Server (GCS) capability and integrate the CesiumJS globe and Cesium ion’s tiling pipelines. If STK users have Cesium ion accounts, they can seamlessly access Cesium World Terrain and Bing Maps Aerial imagery and include their own datasets, which can be tiled into 3D Tiles for optimal streaming and visualization.

Ansys and Cesium have served the United States’ and allies’ aerospace and defense industries for decades, modeling multidomain systems of systems in time-dynamic environments. Courtesy Ansys.

DME Component Libraries are a collection of class libraries in .net and Java, which enable satellite propagation including maneuver modeling, aircraft flight modes, ground system routing, RF communication, and radar systems analysis. These libraries are ready to be deployed in a SaaS or individual workstation deployment. Engineers can use DME Component Libraries to build custom applications that incorporate analytical capabilities found in STK. DME Component Libraries increase precision and interoperability with Cesium ion SDK, which extends the open-source CesiumJS JavaScript library with additional 3D analysis tools and UI widgets.

DME Component Libraries increase precision and interoperability with Cesium ion SDK. Courtesy Ansys.

RF Channel Modeler addresses the needs of RF systems designers, telecommunications planners, and network engineers. It enables users to predict signal coverage, evaluate waveform performance in bespoke locations, mitigate interference, and achieve the right balance between coverage and capacity. High-fidelity modeling and simulation enables these users to better understand the growing complexities and sophistication of today’s communications systems while optimizing their proposed designs. RF Channel Modeler builds on top of STK and connects its dynamic mission modeling capabilities with high-fidelity datasets and ray tracing technologies to analyze system performance at individual channel levels. This solution relies on 3D Tiles to introduce the necessary high-resolution urban environment models, which can be streamed directly via Cesium ion for accurate city features and metadata. RF Channel Modeler’s workflow lets users add base stations, cars, airplanes, or other objects that may be needed to accurately analyze and assess the performance of modeled RF systems in its simulated environment.

Ansys RF Channel Modeler users can predict signal coverage, evaluate waveform performance in bespoke locations, mitigate interference, and achieve the right balance between coverage and capacity. High-resolution urban environment models can be streamed via Cesium ion for accurate city features and metadata. Courtesy Ansys.

Ansys STK RF Channel Modeler users can predict signal coverage, evaluate waveform performance in bespoke locations, mitigate interference, and achieve the right balance between coverage and capacity. High-resolution urban environment models can be streamed via Cesium ion for accurate city features and metadata.