Orbiter space flight simulation – Freeware
(Genre freeware games, rather than an FOSS open source piece of software, included because it’s cool)
Latest Version: Orbiter2016
License: Freeware License
Developer: Martin Schweiger
A freeware space flight simulation program developed to simulate spaceflight using realistic Newtonian physics. The simulator was first released on 27 November 2000, with the most recent of several versions 100830 released on 30 August 2010.
Developed by Dr. Martin Schweiger, a senior research fellow in the computer science department at University College London, who felt that space flight simulators at the time were lacking in realistic physics-based flight models, and decided to write a space flight simulation that made learning physics concepts enjoyable. It has been used as a teaching aid in classrooms, and a community of add-on developers have created a multitude of add-ons to allow users to fly assorted real and fictional spacecraft and add new planets or solar systems.
Orbiter space flight simulator program for Windows PC.
Fed up with space games that insult your intelligence and violate every law of physics?
Orbiter is a simulator that gives you an idea what space flight really feels like – today and in the not so distant future. And best of all: you can download it for free!
- Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Center and rendezvous with the International Space Station.
- Recreate historic flights with addon spacecraft packages: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Vostok and more.
- Plan interplanetary slingshots and tour the solar system with futuristic space craft.
- Design your own rockets, or download addons created by other users.
- Learn about the concepts of space flight and orbital mechanics by playing and experimenting.
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/Win7/Win8/Win10
- 1.2 GHz Pentium or equivalent processor
- 4 GB system RAM
- DirectX 7 or newer
- DirectX compatible graphics card with 64 MB of memory(faster the better for texture packs)
- Approx. 3 GB free hard disk space for minimum installation.
Screenshots
