Using a UI plugin found on
our Github, you can export an ephemeris for certain objects in any reference frame that exists in STK's
Analysis Workbench capability into your current scenario. Github contains a Visual Studio solution file that you can use to create a published version for use with STK. Alternatively, a working version of the bin files and XML are attached to this article. The plugin will work with any version of STK 12.
To install the plugin, download the ZIP file from this article and extract the contents to any file location on your computer. In this folder, you will find a folder called "Stk12.UiPlugin.CustomFrameEphemeris" and a file called "Stk12.UiPlugin.CustomFrameEphemeris.xml". Right-click the XML file and select "properties". Under attributes, select the Unblock check box. Complete this same procedure for the DLL file located in the Stk12.UiPlugin.CustomFrameEphemeris folder.
Next, move both the folder and the XML file to C:\ProgramData\AGI\STK 12\Plugins. ProgramData is a hidden folder by default, so it may be necessary to select the "View" tab on the File Explorer ribbon and select the "Hidden Items" check box under the Show/hide section.
Once the folder and XML file are in C:\ProgramData\AGI\STK 12\Plugins, close any open instances of STK. The plugin should now be available in any new instance of STK. You can use the plugin to generate the ephemeris for objects such as ships, satellites, aircraft, missiles, launch vehicles, and ground vehicles. After right-clicking, select the "<object type> Plugins" option and then "Custom Frame .e". The logo looks a bit like a satellite orbiting a central body and is black and white. After selecting the plugin, the plugin selection window will appear:
You can choose any eligible object in your scenario using the "Choose Object" drop-down menu. For the "Coordinate System" text box, enter an
Analysis Workbench coordinate system. These take the form of:
<object type>\<object name> <analysis workbench coordinate system>
Some examples of this are:
CentralBody/Earth J2000
Satellite/Satellite1 ICRF
CentralBody/Phobos Inertial
You can identify which coordinate systems are available for use in the tool by opening
Analysis Workbench, selecting the proper filter criteria in the "Filter By" box, and then selecting the Vector Geometry tab. Any object in the right panel that has the coordinate system logo
is available for use. You can also use any user-created coordinate system with the tool, but importing the ephemeris into another scenario will require that the same system exist in both scenarios.
After selecting an object and a coordinate system, click the ellipsis button next to the "File Path" text box and browse to and select the output file path for the file. Then enter a step size. If you select the "Create New Object" check box, the tool will create an object in the current scenario that is defined by the ephemeris file generated by the tool.
Once the tool window is completely filled in, click "Compute Ephemeris".
