cspice ☆

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Description:
Observation geometry system for robotic space science missions

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 67@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | @NASA_NAIF | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Other

Tags: space nasa astronomy geometry science spice

Install: brew install cspice

About:
CSPICE is a comprehensive software library from NASA's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) for calculating observation geometry between spacecraft, targets, and instruments. It provides robust ephemeris computation and coordinate system transformations, serving as the industry standard for space mission planning and data analysis.

Key Features:

High-precision ephemeris and planetary data computation
Support for SPICE kernels (data files) from NASA missions
Comprehensive coordinate system and time system conversions
Language bindings for C, Fortran, IDL, MATLAB, and Python
Robust geometric intersection and angular relationship calculations

Use Cases:

Planning spacecraft observations and instrument pointing
Analyzing mission telemetry for instrument geometry
Calculating solar system body positions and orientations
Supporting ground station communication windows

Alternatives:

Skyfield – Python library for astronomy; lighter weight but lacks SPICE kernel support and NASA mission data integration
Astropy – General-purpose astronomy library; broader scope but not specialized for space mission geometry and SPICE kernels

License: LicenseRef-Homebrew-cannot-represent

Dependencies: tcsh

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, arm64_monterey, arm64_big_sur, sonoma, ventura, monterey, big_sur, catalina, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2025 8:26pm	67	0	VERSION_BUMP	9276d8f7