SpaceDataStandards.org
  • Overview
  • Legacy Space Data Formats
  • CCSDS Data Standards
  • CCSDS Text Standards
  • SpaceDataStandards.Org
  • SpaceDataStandards.org (cont.)
  • Serialization
  • Space Data Server
  • The Future
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Legacy Space Data Formats

Column and Row Data

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Last updated 2 years ago

Legacy space data formats are based mostly on old Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) Space Data Center/Space Computation Center (SDC/SCC) punch-card formats used by NASA and other government agencies.

While space efficient, these formats are difficult to parse correctly without seeing the reference software, and suffer from limitations such as the number of characters that can fit into a field. This leads to issues such as the Y2K epoch issue, and the NORAD Catalog ID limitation.

In addition, none of the these formats specify to what precision to parse numerical values, which can lead to a loss of precision and interoperability depending on implementation.

Two-Line Element Set (TLE)
B3 Observation Format per CCS-ICD-003