scarabaeus

Scarabaeus

Open-source spacecraft navigation & orbit determination framework
Developed by the Orbital Research Cluster for Celestial Applications (ORCCA)
Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) · University of Colorado Boulder

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Scarabaeus (SCB) is a Python and Rust library for spacecraft navigation and orbit determination (OD). It provides capabilities for:

• Building and propagating spacecraft trajectories with multiple force models
• Simulating and/or ingesting radiometric and optical measurements
• Running sequential and batch OD filters (LKF, SRIF, LSB, SRIFB, …) and sampling their posteriors with MCMC
• Estimating dynamical, measurement, and consider parameters
• Performing maneuver planning and finite/impulsive burn modeling

To get started with Scarabaeus, follow the Installation Guide. Once SCB is set up, see Scarabaeus Quickstart or dive deeper with Scarabaeus Tutorials.

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More Info

• Documentation: https://ccar-orcca.github.io/scarabaeus-docs/index.html
• Contributing: Contributing
• Bug Reports: https://github.com/CCAR-ORCCA/scarabaeus/issues
• Citation: Citing Scarabaeus

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md and the developer guide before opening a pull request.

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Citing Scarabaeus

If you use Scarabaeus in academic work, please cite the paper:

@inproceedings{scarabaeus2026,
  author    = {McMahon, J. and Fereoli, G. and Wolf, T. and Ellis, Z. and Aldhanhani, B. and Kuleib, M. and Frank, W. and Pugliatti, M. and Almashjari, M. and Knittel, J.},
  title     = {Scarabaeus: An Open-Source Tool for Interplanetary Spacecraft Navigation},
  booktitle = {30th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics (ISSFD)},
  address   = {Toulouse, France},
  month     = jun,
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/404941039_Scarabaeus_An_Open-Source_Tool_for_Interplanetary_Spacecraft_Navigation},
}