Best inclinations for satellites?

[Zerro]

Greetings,

I was wondering what the best orbit/inclination is for satellites to scan planets for things like Kethane, ISA MapSat?

Follow up question: Do satellites still scan even though you are focused on another vessel?

[rryy]

You normally want to get into a polar orbit for mapping. You have to stay focused on the satellite for it to map, sadly, which means you will probably spend a quite a while if you want a complete map.

[Zerro]

You normally want to get into a polar orbit for mapping. You have to stay focused on the satellite for it to map, sadly, which means you will probably spend a quite a while if you want a complete map.

Do I want to be exactly on polar or off-centered just a bit?

[annallia]

Some say slightly off center is best otherwise you end up going over the same spot over and over again (that spot being the poles themselves). However I find that a polar orbit is still the best. And while I am unsure about ISA because I don't use it, Kethane still operates with time warp so you won't be sitting there too long (though a few days will pass in game time).

[technicalfool]

Polar orbit is the "safest", if you don't mind a lot of redundant scanning at the poles. Just slightly off polar, say 85 degrees, is usually enough to cover the whole planet though, so long as you aren't too low and end up leaving two black dots of unscanned area on the polar view.

As for time warp and ISA Mapsat, it will only scan at up to 50x time warp speed, or four green arrows on the meter.

[blizzy78]

ISA Mapsat Ideal and Non-Ideal Altitudes