Downloading and installing ORBITER

This page contains instructions on how to download and install the ORBITER simulator.

Please note that ORBITER is distributed "as is" and that I cannot guarantee that it will run on any particular system, nor can I accept responsibility for any problems arising from its use. See the Disclaimer for details.

Check that your computer meets these requirements.
Download ORBITER from one of the mirror sites.
Install the ORBITER packages.

Hardware and software requirements

These are the minimum requirements to run ORBITER on your computer:

600 MHz PC or better (Pentium, Athlon, etc.)
256MB RAM or more
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
DirectX 7.0 or higher
DirectX compatible 3D graphics accelerator card with at least 16MB of video RAM (32MB or more recommended) and DXT texture compression support.
Approximately 120MB of free disk space for the minimum installation (additional high-resolution textures and addons will require more space).
DirectX compatible joystick (optional)

Running ORBITER on a lower-spec computer is likely to result in unsatisfactory performance.

Downloading

You can download and install ORBITER in two ways: with a web installation program, or manually by downloading and extracting the required zip packages. Please pick your preferred option below.

Option 1: Web installer

Currently disabled due to bandwidth problems

Option 2: Manual download

ORBITER is distributed in a number of ZIP packages. If you want to install ORBITER manually, you need to download these packages and then use an unzip utility such as WinZip to install them (newer Windows versions contain unzip facilities as a standard).

For a minimum installation, you need to download only the packages marked "required". Usually this will be the Base package (which contains the ORBITER program, core files and basic textures), and any essential Patch packages. All additional packages are optional.

Even if you have a high-performance computer, it is recommended that you download and install the minimum system first, and make sure everything is working properly, before installing any high-resolution packages and addons.

Please select a download mirror site close to your location.

Mirror site Version Hosted by

USA - Huntsville, AL (site 1) 060929 M6.net

USA - Huntsville, AL (site 2) 060929 M6.net

Robert Conley's Orbiter project page 060929 sourceforge.net

USA - San Jose, CA 060929 Kaffeiene Net

USA - Woonsocket, RI 060504 Moonport.org

USA - MiGMan's Orbiter Pages 060504 migman.com

Radu's Orbiter mirror 060504 Radu Poenaru

USA - Ashburn, VA 031105 AVSIM.com

The latest release version is Orbiter Edition 2006-P1, build 060929.

Important: Addons developed for earlier ORBITER versions may not be compatible with this release. If you rely on a legacy addon, make sure an upgraded version is available before installing the latest ORBITER version.

Manual installation and de-installation

Manual installation and de-installation is only required if you used the manual download option above. The web installer automatically performs all required installation steps, and provides a deinstallation application.

Installing ORBITER manually is very straightforward if you follow these steps:

Create a new folder for ORBITER, for example \Program Files\Orbiter2006.
If a previous version of ORBITER is already installed on your computer, you should not install the new version into the same folder, because this could lead to file conflicts. You may want to keep your old installation until you have made sure that the new version works without problem. Multiple ORBITER installations can exist on the same computer.
Download the Base package into your new ORBITER folder and unzip with WinZip or an equivalent utility. Important: Take care to preserve the directory structure of the package (In WinZip, this requires to activate the "Use Folder Names" option).
After unzipping the package, make sure that your ORBITER folder contains the executable (Orbiter.exe) and, among other files, the Config, Meshes, Scenarios and Textures subfolders.
Run Orbiter.exe. This will bring up the ORBITER "Launchpad" dialog, where you can select video options and simulation parameters.
You are now ready to start ORBITER. Select a scenario from the Launchpad dialog, and click the "ORBITER" button!
If you run into problems during installation, you may want to check the Troubleshooting section of the FAQ.

To install additional high-resolution extension packages:

Before adding any optional packages and addons, install the base version of ORBITER as described above, and make sure everything works correctly.
Download the package from one of the ORBITER mirrors into the main ORBITER folder, and unzip.
Make sure to preserve the directory structure, as for the base package.
All extension packages from the main ORBITER download mirrors should end up in the Textures2 subdirectory. They are automatically recognised by ORBITER and don't need to be moved elsewhere.
Installing 3rd party ORBITER addon packages usually works the same way, but always check the provided readme files and installation documentation.

To de-install ORBITER:

Remove the ORBITER directory with all contents and subdirectories. ORBITER does not modify the registry or any system resources.