Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#1

Post by keyth72 » Fri, Jun 27, 2025, 6:34 PM UTC

International Space Station Tracker on an ESP32 CYD (Cheap Yellow Display) costing $20. Live update over Wifi, touchscreen, backlight power management. Cheap and interesting classroom STEM project. Fully open source.

Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20
github.com

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#2

Post by panki27 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 3:16 PM UTC

Looks like a fun tinker project. Could be easily extended with a GPS receiver to show your location on the map.

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#3

Post by matteason » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

Really neat! If you're interested in adding clouds to your basemap I built a service [0] which generates free, almost-live cloudmaps (with alpha channel or precomposited onto a Blue Marble image) as part of my own ISS tracker project

[0] https://github.com/matteason/live-cloud-maps

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#4

Post by consumer451 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

This is a complete tangent, but a photographer recently captured what is likely the all-time best shot of the ISS.

https://old.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comments/1lfgtiw/on_sunda...

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#5

Post by calgoo » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC

panki27 wrote: post #2

Looks like a fun tinker project. Could be easily extended with a GPS receiver to show your location on the map.

A SDR could be cool too, and basically let it connect live to ISS when the GPS confirms its above. CPU and memory might be an issue, but getting some 145Mhz / 437Mhz SDR and an external antenna jack on the board could be a cool way of letting the device listen in when the ISS is above.

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#6

Post by keyth72 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:57 PM UTC

matteason wrote: post #3

Really neat! If you're interested in adding clouds to your basemap I built a service [0] which generates free, almost-live cloudmaps (with alpha channel or precomposited onto a Blue Marble image) as part of my own ISS tracker project [0] https://github.com/matteason/live-cloud-maps

That's really cool! Starred so I can find it later, might be challenging putting it on the esp32 but if there's an easy way to downsize the images then it should be do-able. Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#7

Post by keyth72 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

consumer451 wrote: post #4

This is a complete tangent, but a photographer recently captured what is likely the all-time best shot of the ISS. https://old.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comments/1lfgtiw/on_sunda...

WOW that is a cool shot, thanks for sharing!

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#8

Post by potsii » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 5:00 PM UTC

Another variant of the generic:

"Read a REST endpoint via HTTP and draw it on a display with LVGL"

But also funny because OP used two MCUs, when a single ESP32 could do all of this.

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#9

Post by keyth72 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

panki27 wrote: post #2

Looks like a fun tinker project. Could be easily extended with a GPS receiver to show your location on the map.

Definitely alot of directions you could go with it, looking forward to seeing what people do with the code!

Re: Show HN: Open-Source International Space Station Tracker ESP32/Arduino for $20

#10

Post by keyth72 » Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

potsii wrote: post #8

Another variant of the generic: "Read a REST endpoint via HTTP and draw it on a display with LVGL" But also funny because OP used two MCUs, when a single ESP32 could do all of this.

Yup, that's all it is! Really simple beginner project, with room to grow on the hardware.