simpsonaerospace.com

What It Is

Simpson Aerospace is a personal aerospace engineering brand/consulting site founded by Christopher R. Simpson. It offers custom services for launch analysis, orbit design, state estimation, propulsion performance prediction, satellite ground stations, CAD modeling, and technical documentation. Strictly speaking, it is not a typical developer tooling platform; it is a professional service centered on aerospace mission software and engineering deliverables.

Core Capabilities and Ecosystem

The website explicitly mentions custom software development for use cases such as launch analysis, repeating ground track orbit design, and drone swarms. It also provides orbit determination instructor courses and online materials. On the hardware side, it covers propulsion performance prediction/testing-related solutions, as well as building satellite ground stations connected to the SatNOGS network, including communications and tracking upgrades. For CAD, it can reverse-engineer or create models to specification, and it mentions a low-fidelity 1U CubeSat example on GrabCAD. Supported languages, frameworks, APIs, and SDKs are not disclosed, so its software stack and integration potential cannot be assessed.

Pricing and Documentation

Pricing is quote-based: the site includes a “Request a quote” option, and CAD models require direct contact for pricing. Returning customers may receive a 20% discount. Orbit determination course materials will remain free. In terms of documentation, the site provides a FAQ, blog, research summaries, and course material entry points, but it lacks the installation guides, API references, SDKs, changelogs, licenses, and delivery SLA details that developers commonly expect.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its highly specialized domain focus, the founder’s PhD background in aerospace engineering, and experience in propulsion, orbital mission planning, and rapid prototyping. For small research teams or early-stage space projects, its customization and cross-disciplinary capabilities spanning software, hardware, and CAD can be valuable. The limitations are also clear: public information is limited, the offering is not highly productized, pricing is not transparent, and there is no clear open-source, self-hosting, or API strategy. Buyers will need substantial communication before procurement to confirm delivery scope and boundaries.

Best Fit and Access from China

It is best suited for researchers, small teams, and professional project owners who need support with aerospace engineering algorithms, orbit design, ground stations, or CubeSat modeling. It is not a good fit for teams looking for ready-to-use general-purpose developer tools, standard SaaS products, or mature SDKs. Access from China is not covered in the available text and should be considered unknown; payment methods are also not disclosed. If you need self-developed or open-source alternatives, consider tools such as GMAT, Orekit, SatNOGS, and OpenRocket. For commercial orbital mission software, STK and FreeFlyer are worth comparing.