De-Orbit: Space Preservation Mission

Clear the Chaos, Reclaim the Stars.

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Inspiration

The project was inspired by the Kessler Syndrome, a theory where space trash becomes so crowded that it crashes into itself. I wanted to bring awareness to this problem by turning it into a game that makes people realize how much junk is actually floating above our heads.

What it does

De-Orbit is an interactive 3D simulation where you act as like an orbital janitor. Players must identify different types of space junk like old satellites, rocket parts, and metal shards and use the correct tools to knock them out of orbit. Once you clear 50 pieces of debris, the game awards you a Guardian Merit Certificate to thank you for preserving the skies.

How it was built

It was built by using:

  • Three.js (3D Engine)
  • Satellite.js (Orbital Tracking)
  • GLSL (Custom Shaders)
  • Tailwind CSS (UI/UX Design)
  • Gemini (Logic & Troubleshooting)
  • Google Fonts (Cinzel, Inter, Great Vibes

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was the performance. Keeping the game running smoothly while tracking dozens of moving objects required optimizing the animation loops. I also had to work on the Targeting HUD to make sure the game could accurately tell when your mouse was locking on to a tiny piece of fast moving trash.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am particularly proud of the atmosphere. Seeing the Earth transition from day to night adds a lot of wow factor. I’m also happy with the certificate system that creates a personalized award for the player at the end of the mission.

What we learned

Building this project was an eye opening journey into environmental issues that exist just above our heads, pushing me to explore complex scientific topics and so i leverage AI tools like Gemini to navigate difficult mathematical hurdles which allowed me to translate theoretical concepts, such as the Kessler Syndrome, into a functional and interactive digital experience and that has helped me gain essential hands on experience with the 3D graphics pipeline and learning how to design and animate immersive web environments.

What's next for De-Orbit: Space Preservation Mission

I plan to maybe introduce a level based system with different altitudes, like Geostationary Orbit, to show that the trash problem exists even further away from Earth.

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