Dear Jundroo Developers,
I’ve been playing Juno: New Origins for a while now and I want to start by saying thank you for creating such a powerful and inspiring space simulation platform. The attention to detail in rocket design, mission planning, and orbital mechanics makes the game incredibly educational and enjoyable. However, I’ve noticed that while the game includes many common orbital maneuvers and transfer types, there are several important real-world orbits that are not currently possible to simulate accurately. I’d like to explain what these are, why they matter, why they’re currently missing, and how they could make the game even better if implemented.
Currently, Juno: New Origins uses a patched-conic gravity system. This means only one celestial body influences the player's spacecraft at a time. While this is efficient and works well for basic and intermediate missions, it limits the realism of complex orbital mechanics. Many advanced orbits—such as Lagrange point orbits, halo orbits, Lissajous orbits, Lyapunov orbits, and horseshoe orbits—rely on simultaneous gravitational forces from two large bodies (like a planet and its moon or a planet and the sun). Because the game doesn’t support n-body physics, spacecraft cannot maintain positions at L1, L2, L4, or L5 points or orbit around them in a realistic way.
These types of orbits are used in real-life missions like the James Webb Space Telescope (at Sun–Earth L2), SOHO (at L1), and future planned communications relays for the Moon and Mars. Another important type of orbit that is missing is the sun-synchronous orbit. These are orbits where a satellite passes over each part of the planet at the same local solar time, making them ideal for Earth observation missions and weather satellites. This kind of orbit requires nodal precession caused by the planet’s oblateness, known as the J2 effect. This effect, along with higher-order gravitational harmonics (J3, J4, etc.), also enables frozen orbits, where the orbit’s shape and orientation remain stable over time.
Without modeling planetary oblateness, these types of orbits cant be reproduced or maintained in-game. Orbits like the Molniya and Tundra orbits, which are designed to maximize coverage over high-latitude regions, are partially possible in Juno: New Origins. You can manually create a Molniya orbit using a 63.4° inclination and a 12-hour period, but since the game doesn’t model precession or the full gravitational effects of a realistic planet, these orbits won’t behave accurately over long periods.
Critically inclined orbits, which are specially designed to avoid rotation of the orbit's argument of periapsis, also rely on J2 effects and are currently ineffective without them. There are also more complex orbital techniques and transfer types that aren’t possible. These include low-energy transfers, ballistic captures, and Weak Stability Boundary (WSB) orbits, which are used in real missions to save fuel by exploiting gravitational interactions between planets and moons.
Adding support for these kinds of orbits, or at least simulating them through simplified mechanics, would dramatically improve the educational and scientific value of Juno: New Origins. It would allow players to plan more realistic missions, learn about real-world orbital dynamics, and explore mission profiles that reflect what actual space agencies do.
For example, implementing a basic n-body system between major bodies (like Droo and Luna) would allow for simulated Lagrange points, which could be visualized in the map view and targeted by players. Even if true n-body simulation is too performance-intensive, pre-defined stable zones for station-keeping, gravitational gradients, or scripted orbital assistance tools could help players recreate these orbits.
Introducing J2 perturbation modeling would allow for sun-synchronous and frozen orbits, opening up new possibilities for Earth-like satellite constellations, imaging missions, and stable long-term science stations. Adding these features would not only benefit realism but would also increase the game's value for education, STEM programs, and aerospace engineering students.
In summary, I believe that adding advanced orbital types like Lagrange point orbits, sun-synchronous, frozen, and critically inclined orbits, along with the necessary physics (n-body gravity and J2 effects), would elevate Juno: New Origins from a realistic space simulator to a true mission design platform. These improvements would support deeper gameplay, more meaningful long-term satellite operations, and a better understanding of real-life spaceflight.
Thank you again for building such a great game, and I hope you’ll consider these features in future updates.
Sincerely,
Starletspace