NEBULA Xplorer

01Concentrator sunshields02Star tracker0315in motorized lightband04Sparkwing solar array

CHAS© / Case 01

SRON / 2026

3D / Design / Development
Interactive satellite experience
Fig. 00 — Blender Cycles, original CAD

(01) The brief

A real space mission, on screen.

SRON's NEBULA Xplorer satellite, built from the original engineering CAD and turned into a website anyone can take apart: the spacecraft, its X-ray instrument and the optics inside.

Client: SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Role: 3D / Design / Development
Team: FDND Agency
Year: 2026, in development

Close-up of the satellite's front face: the concentrator sunshields and the star tracker

Every part keeps its CAD name and colour. Nothing here is a decorative stand-in.

The NEBULA Xplorer satellite seen from the side, rendered in Blender from the original CAD model

(04) Turntable

40 frames / 234° / Blender Cycles
original CAD colours
scroll to rotate

(05) Making it run in a browser

~~1786~~284

Draw calls

CAD parts batched by material

Exploded view of the satellite with every panel pulled away from the body

−27%

Triangles

Original CAD colours

kept, not repainted

(06) Outer panels off

X-Ray Instrument

Select the instrument and the outer panels step aside. The camera flies in and keeps a slow orbit around whatever you selected.

01Mirror

02Stray-light tube

03Detector

The X-ray path view: rays reflecting off the mirror, through the stray-light tube onto the detector

(07) Schematic, not to scale. The tube was flipped 180° in the model so the rays actually pass through it.

Onestate.

(08) Explorer UX
The tree, the numbered markers, the camera and the URL all follow one selected id. Expand in place, Escape goes up a level.

Tree, marker and camera share one selected id

3441440^px

Phone layout with the bottom sheet — 390 / sheet

Unfolded Galaxy Z Fold layout with the explorer docked — 882 / fold, unfolded

(09) Layout follows space, not device
Viewport Segments API for dual screens
Container queries per component

The NEBULA page with JavaScript off: a document with the full nested component list

Nested lists are the source of truth
aria-expanded / aria-current
role="status" announces selection
Escape → one level up
prefers-reduced-motion → no orbit
Save-Data → 30 KB still, 3D on request
forced-colors / contrast: more

(11) The only real-time 3D on this page. It loads when you ask for it.