Orbital Beacon
Revision as of 18:37, 12 April 2008 by Tjoneslo (talk | contribs) (New page: Orbital beacons are small spheres dotted with solar panels, containing a battery and a radio transmitter. It is designed to emit a 1 second pulse every 10 seconds at the habitable orbi...)
Orbital beacons are small spheres dotted with solar panels, containing a battery and a radio transmitter. It is designed to emit a 1 second pulse every 10 seconds at the habitable orbit range of a star. The pulse length and interval vary if the beacon is placed either closer in or further out.
The purpose of an orbital beacon is to provide in-system navigation. The signal they emit is a very simply encoded time calculation. This allows a navigator (or navigation program) to calculate a ships location and orbital path within a few minutes.
Most systems with a class C or better Starport usually have several orbital beacons in solar orbits.
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