AI · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Solar System Explorer
Walk in the cosmos
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 3 we have checked on their own sites, 3 of them free or with a free tier. Solar System Explorer launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
22d ago · space.bl2.net · its alternatives →
- 2
Atlas of Spacefree▲770Hello HN! Sharing a recent side project of mine, the Atlas of Space, that I built out to explore the Solar System. As a long-time space nerd, I realized recently that I didn't have a good intuition on the scale, speed, and relative orientation of the celestial bodies around us. So over the break I built out a kind of spatial Wikipedia to click around and learn about planets, moons, asteroids, and other bodies orbiting the Sun. The physics is all simulated in the browser using simple Newtonian mechanics. There's a lot left to do from here, including modeling objects in non-Keplerian orbits…
2025 · atlasof.space · its alternatives →
- 3GI
Just for fun and self education, I've built this over a weekend to teach myself why orbits exist, not just show planets going around. Something that was never clearly explain to me in school. It opens with a guided tour that builds the idea up step by step: two bodies and the equal/opposite force, inertia (the Sun is removed and Earth just drifts straight), then "an orbit is falling and continuously missing," cosmic velocities with a little rocket, Voyager 1 & 2's real gravity assists (the clock runs the actual 1977–1989 dates so the planets orbit into their grand-tour alignment and the…
Jun 2026 · qunabu.github.io · its alternatives →
- 4
Live NASA solar imagery in 12 wavelengths, the moon phase tonight for 200+ cities, and real space weather. Free on iOS and Android. No ads, no signup.
Apr 2026 · lumara-space.app · its alternatives →
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AstraPixelsfree tier, from $5/mo▲267A pixel-art solar system at its real current positions.
Aug 2026 · astrapixels.com · its alternatives →
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Real Time Solar Systemfree▲2Live map of the solar system, rocket launches, news and more
Aug 2026 · realtimesolarsystem.com · its alternatives →
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A real-time, ultra-realistic 3D solar system in your pocket
Jul 2026 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
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The Solar System in your home.
2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Cosmic-Watch▲73The World’s first 3D astronomical clock & stunning skyguide
2020 · cosmic-watch.com · its alternatives →
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8Planets▲66A simple viewer for planetary orbits in our Solar System
2021 · 8planets.app · its alternatives →
- 12
3D movements telling you the time to the next sunrise
2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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3D simulator that models planets, orbits, propulsion systems
Nov 2025 · solar.chriswest.tech · its alternatives →
- 15AR
2016 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
- 16MS
Did this a few years ago. Seems apropos. Sources and more here: https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/Mooncraft2000
Apr 2026 · mooncraft2000.com · its alternatives →
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PixelSpace▲68A tediously accurate scale model of the solar system
2014 · joshworth.com · its alternatives →
- 18
A fork of Solar System Live that generates animated videos showing planetary orbits over any date range. Tracks orbital statistics (how many times Earth was lapped by Mercury/Venus, or lapped outer planets) and overlays dates/ages on each frame. Example: Einstein's lifetime (1879-1955) showing 76 years of solar system evolution. Built with Python + Pillow + ffmpeg, runs locally with Lighttpd. https://github.com/simondorfman/solar_system_live
Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Our SolAR▲91Visualize our Solar System in augmented reality 🌌
2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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SOLAR by Aireal ▲88Walk among the planets via geospatial augmented reality
2016 · aireal.io · its alternatives →
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Gravity WebGL experiment in the Solar System
2016 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23
This is a little hobby project that I hope you enjoy. You can see where the International Space Station is now, with live HD video from NASA, on a realistic 3D globe. The positions of the sun and moon are also accurate, though distances aren't to scale. The clouds are also near-realtime; I span that out into a separate project at https://clouds.matteason.co.uk, where the cloud images I create from EUMETSAT data are freely available. I've got more features almost ready to go, like the ability to turn off all UI, toggleable clouds and turning off the day/night cycle I'd love for…
2024 · iss.matteason.co.uk · its alternatives →
- 24HO
3D gravity and space Simulator. Explore and play around with the force of gravity in the context of an array of scenarios from our solar system and beyond. You can add planets, delete the Sun, change the value of the gravitational constant or simply lean back and enjoy the dazzling beauty of the pen
2018 · thehappykoala.github.io · its alternatives →
Also compare
- The whole Solar System and every tracked satellite, live in the browser alternatives
- Atlas of Space alternatives
- Gravity – Interactive solar-system simulator, from Newton to Einstein alternatives
- Live Sun and Moon Dashboard with NASA Footage alternatives
- AstraPixels alternatives
- Real Time Solar System alternatives
Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →