Free STK Options

Systems Tool Kit (STK) is a digital mission engineering application that is indispensable to professionals in numerous industries including aerospace, defense, and telecommunications. STK provides a physics-based modeling environment to simulate complex systems in realistic mission scenarios, enabling high-level analysis and design. LSAS Tec is an elite ANSYS channel partner staffed by expert users of all AGI products, including STK. If you are interested in acquiring STK for your organization, please submit an information request at the following link, and we will be happy to help.   

General Info Request | LSAS Tec Co. (lsas-tec.com) 

It is also possible to access some of STK's functionality without a paid license. In the past, the base STK model was provided at no cost with the modules sold separately as add-ons. This was discontinued after STK Version 12.2, when the ANSYS released new STK bundling packages that ultimately lowered the cost of modules but eliminated the free base model for later STK versions. This leaves a few other options for using STK capabilities without a paid license.

Option 1: STK Viewer

To view or create graphics from existing STK scenarios created by paid STK users, STK Viewer (see brochure here) is a great free option. STK Viewer is an excellent no-cost version of STK that provides the ability to view a scenario that has already been created on a full version of STK. Viewer provides the same 2D/3D visualization available in standard STK as well as enabling the creation of images and movies and the viewing of any reports and graphs that have been saved as quick report templates in the STK scenario. 
 

In STK, a paid user can create a scenario, save their scenario as a Visual Data File (VDF) and provide it to the free STK Viewer user. With the latest version of Viewer, you will be able to open VDF files created in the current and all previous STK versions. You can save a scenario as a VDF by going to File -> VDF Setup, selecting what you would like exported in the VDF file, and selecting Create VDF. 

This will create a VDF file that can be shared with STK Viewer users, without requiring any paid STK licenses. (see best practices for creating VDF files here)

The limitation of Viewer is that it is read-only. Users can open a VDF generated in a paid STK version, create movies and view quick reports. However, without a paid license, users will not be able to make changes to the scenario, compute new analysis, or generate new reports.
 

STK Viewer comes packaged with any STK Pro download, so by downloading and installing STK Pro per the instructions in our Installing AGI Software tutorial, you can download and install STK Viewer. Skip steps 1 and 4 of the instructions, as you do not have a license. Without a license, you will not be able to open STK Pro, but you will be able to open and run STK Viewer without configuring a license.
 

Option 2: Free Temporary Licenses

AGI provides free 14-day educational licenses for each stage of the STK Certification training (Levels 1 to 3). By signing up for the L1 certification, you will be provided a 2-week temporary license for STK Pro. After completing the L1 certification, users can sign up for L2 and get another 2-week temporary license, and so on.

Free temporary licenses are also offered by AGI with their training seminars and courses. By attending an STK training course, users will be provided with a one or two-week temporary license for the course that includes licensing for the modules used in the course. This is one way to get a trial license for STK Premium and Enterprise modules while also receiving training in the module. These courses can be found on the AGI website here. 

It is also possible to request a 14-day STK Enterprise evaluation license from AGI on the following page.