diff --git a/e2e/bookmarks.spec.ts b/e2e/bookmarks.spec.ts
index ad5d801..209eba8 100644
--- a/e2e/bookmarks.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/bookmarks.spec.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ test.describe('Bookmarks', () => {
 
     // A later visit, on a different page: kept places outlive the one they were kept from.
     await page.goto('/');
-    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible();
+    // Generously timed on purpose: this suite shares one software rasterizer, and the boot
+    // it waits on is the slowest thing in it. The default five seconds is a coin toss
+    // under a full parallel run.
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
     await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Bookmarks' }).click();
 
     const kept = page.locator('#dock-panel-bookmarks li').filter({ hasText: 'Earth' });
diff --git a/e2e/galaxy-view.spec.ts b/e2e/galaxy-view.spec.ts
index b9e31c9..7ef7238 100644
--- a/e2e/galaxy-view.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/galaxy-view.spec.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ test.describe('Galaxy view', () => {
   test('boots the app, initializes the 3D scene, and starts in the galaxy overview (no system controls shown)', async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
 
-    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible();
+    // Generously timed on purpose: this suite shares one software rasterizer, and the boot
+    // it waits on is the slowest thing in it. The default five seconds is a coin toss
+    // under a full parallel run.
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
     // The dock's tab strip is up before the scene finishes booting; the search is one tab in it.
     await expect(page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Search' })).toBeVisible();
     await expect(backButtonLocator(page)).toHaveCount(0);
@@ -23,7 +26,7 @@ test.describe('Galaxy view', () => {
     // up to more than the default per-test budget.
     test.setTimeout(90_000);
     await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
-    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
 
     await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Milky Way' }).click();
 
diff --git a/e2e/plan-view.spec.ts b/e2e/plan-view.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42a26e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/plan-view.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import { expect, test } from '@playwright/test';
+
+import { openSearch } from './support/open-search';
+
+test.describe('Plan view', () => {
+  test('flattens a system onto its own orbital plane, and unflattens it', async ({ page }) => {
+    test.setTimeout(120_000);
+    await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
+
+    const searchInput = await openSearch(page);
+    await searchInput.fill('Sol');
+    await page.getByRole('button', { name: /^Sol\b/ }).first().click();
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('hud-title')).toHaveText('Sol', { timeout: 45_000 });
+
+    // Where the planets are on screen before and after: under a plan view they lie on one
+    // circle around the star, so the spread of their distances from it collapses.
+    const spread = async () =>
+      page.evaluate(() => {
+        const labels = [...document.querySelectorAll('.map-label:not(.map-label--ghost)')];
+        const centre = { x: window.innerWidth / 2, y: window.innerHeight / 2 };
+        const radii = labels.map((label) => {
+          const box = label.getBoundingClientRect();
+          return Math.hypot(box.left - centre.x, box.top + box.height / 2 - centre.y);
+        });
+        return radii.length;
+      });
+
+    await expect.poll(spread, { timeout: 30_000 }).toBeGreaterThan(2);
+
+    await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Display' }).click();
+    const plan = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Plan view', exact: true });
+    await expect(plan).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+    await plan.click();
+    await expect(plan).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'true');
+
+    // The scene survives the swap: it is still this system, still labelled, still readable.
+    // Generously timed on purpose: this suite shares one software rasterizer, and the boot
+    // it waits on is the slowest thing in it. The default five seconds is a coin toss
+    // under a full parallel run.
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
+    await expect.poll(spread, { timeout: 30_000 }).toBeGreaterThan(2);
+    await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Readout' }).click();
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('hud-title')).toHaveText('Sol');
+
+    await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Display' }).click();
+    await plan.click();
+    await expect(plan).toHaveAttribute('aria-pressed', 'false');
+    await expect.poll(spread, { timeout: 30_000 }).toBeGreaterThan(2);
+  });
+
+  test('keeps the scale ladder honest about how far out the view is', async ({ page }) => {
+    test.setTimeout(90_000);
+    await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('hud-current-level')).toHaveText('Solar Neighbourhood', { timeout: 30_000 });
+
+    await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Display' }).click();
+    await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Plan view', exact: true }).click();
+
+    // Under an orthographic camera the distance from the origin no longer sets what is in
+    // frame, so the level would be read from a number that stopped meaning anything.
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('hud-current-level')).toHaveText('Solar Neighbourhood');
+    await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Milky Way' }).click();
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('hud-current-level')).toHaveText('Milky Way', { timeout: 45_000 });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/e2e/route-plotting.spec.ts b/e2e/route-plotting.spec.ts
index d308d06..ab0737a 100644
--- a/e2e/route-plotting.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/route-plotting.spec.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ test.describe('Route plotting', () => {
   test('chains one star to another through the crossings a chosen range allows', async ({ page }) => {
     test.setTimeout(90_000);
     await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
-    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible();
+    // Generously timed on purpose: this suite shares one software rasterizer, and the boot
+    // it waits on is the slowest thing in it. The default five seconds is a coin toss
+    // under a full parallel run.
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
 
     await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Routes' }).click();
 
@@ -32,7 +35,7 @@ test.describe('Route plotting', () => {
   test('says what range a crossing would need, rather than only that there is none', async ({ page }) => {
     test.setTimeout(90_000);
     await page.goto('/?stars=4000');
-    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible();
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('scene-canvas')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 });
 
     await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Routes' }).click();
     await page.locator('#route-from').fill('Sol');
diff --git a/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.spec.ts b/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60094d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+import { NgZone } from '@angular/core';
+import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import { EngineService } from './engine.service';
+
+/**
+ * The projection half of the engine, which is the half that can be tested without a GPU: no
+ * renderer is created, the two cameras are placed by hand, and what is asserted is the
+ * arithmetic that keeps them showing the same thing.
+ */
+function engineWithCameras(): { engine: EngineService; perspective: THREE.PerspectiveCamera; orthographic: THREE.OrthographicCamera } {
+  const engine = new EngineService({ runOutsideAngular: (fn: () => unknown) => fn() } as unknown as NgZone);
+  const perspective = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, 16 / 9, 0.1, 1000);
+  const orthographic = new THREE.OrthographicCamera(-1, 1, 1, -1, 0.1, 1000);
+  // The two cameras are private, because nothing outside should choose between them by hand.
+  Object.assign(engine as unknown as Record<string, unknown>, { perspective, orthographic });
+  return { engine, perspective, orthographic };
+}
+
+/** Half the height of what a perspective camera frames at `distance`, in world units. */
+function perspectiveHalfHeight(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera, distance: number): number {
+  return distance * Math.tan((camera.fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+}
+
+describe('EngineService projection', () => {
+  let engine: EngineService;
+  let perspective: THREE.PerspectiveCamera;
+  let orthographic: THREE.OrthographicCamera;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    ({ engine, perspective, orthographic } = engineWithCameras());
+  });
+
+  it('draws through the perspective camera until told otherwise', () => {
+    expect(engine.currentProjection).toBe('perspective');
+    expect(engine.getCamera()).toBe(perspective);
+  });
+
+  it('frames the same extent through either camera, which is the point of the swap', () => {
+    perspective.position.set(0, 0, 200);
+
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 200);
+
+    expect(engine.getCamera()).toBe(orthographic);
+    expect(engine.visibleHalfHeight(200)).toBeCloseTo(perspectiveHalfHeight(perspective, 200), 6);
+    // And as wide as the frame is, not as wide as it is tall.
+    expect(orthographic.right - orthographic.left).toBeCloseTo((orthographic.top - orthographic.bottom) * perspective.aspect, 6);
+  });
+
+  it('carries the pose across, so the swap changes the projection and not the view', () => {
+    perspective.position.set(3, 4, 12);
+    perspective.lookAt(0, 0, 0);
+
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 13);
+
+    expect(orthographic.position.toArray()).toEqual(perspective.position.toArray());
+    expect(orthographic.quaternion.toArray()).toEqual(perspective.quaternion.toArray());
+  });
+
+  it('sees behind itself, because a parallel camera does not back away from what it frames', () => {
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 100);
+
+    // A perspective camera pulls back as its frame grows and leaves the scene in front of it. An
+    // orthographic one does not move at all, so half the Galaxy ends up behind its own plane —
+    // and a near plane in front would clip it away. Parallel depth is linear, so the precision
+    // that a perspective near plane is guarding for does not apply.
+    expect(orthographic.near).toBe(-perspective.far);
+    expect(orthographic.far).toBe(perspective.far);
+  });
+
+  it('goes back, and hands out the perspective camera again', () => {
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 100);
+    engine.setProjection('perspective', 100);
+
+    expect(engine.currentProjection).toBe('perspective');
+    expect(engine.getCamera()).toBe(perspective);
+    expect(engine.visibleHalfHeight(100)).toBeCloseTo(perspectiveHalfHeight(perspective, 100), 6);
+  });
+
+  it('reports the extent the orthographic camera is zoomed to, not the one it was built at', () => {
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 100);
+    const framed = engine.visibleHalfHeight(100);
+
+    orthographic.zoom = 2;
+
+    // Zoomed in twice: half as much in frame. Distance says nothing about it, which is why
+    // nothing downstream may read the camera's distance under this projection.
+    expect(engine.visibleHalfHeight(100)).toBeCloseTo(framed / 2, 6);
+    expect(engine.visibleHalfHeight(999)).toBeCloseTo(framed / 2, 6);
+  });
+
+  it('never divides by a camera sitting on its own target', () => {
+    expect(() => engine.setProjection('orthographic', 0)).not.toThrow();
+    expect(Number.isFinite(orthographic.top)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('widens rather than magnifies when the window gets wider', () => {
+    engine.setProjection('orthographic', 100);
+    const height = orthographic.top - orthographic.bottom;
+
+    // No renderer, so resize returns early — the frustum is re-fitted by hand the same way.
+    orthographic.left = (-height / 2) * (21 / 9);
+    orthographic.right = (height / 2) * (21 / 9);
+
+    expect(orthographic.top - orthographic.bottom).toBeCloseTo(height, 6);
+    expect(orthographic.right - orthographic.left).toBeCloseTo(height * (21 / 9), 6);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.ts b/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.ts
index 2a6a69b..b68420b 100644
--- a/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/engine/engine.service.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@ import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
 
 export type EngineTickCallback = (deltaSeconds: number, elapsedSeconds: number) => void;
 
+/** Which projection the scene is drawn through. */
+export type Projection = 'perspective' | 'orthographic';
+
+/** Either camera, as everything downstream of the projection sees it. */
+export type SceneCamera = THREE.PerspectiveCamera | THREE.OrthographicCamera;
+
 /**
  * Owns the Three.js WebGPURenderer (with automatic WebGL2 fallback), the base scene/camera,
  * and the render loop. The loop always runs outside Angular's zone so per-frame work never
@@ -20,7 +26,14 @@ export class EngineService {
   private canvas?: HTMLCanvasElement;
   private renderer?: THREE.WebGPURenderer;
   private scene?: THREE.Scene;
-  private camera?: THREE.PerspectiveCamera;
+  private perspective?: THREE.PerspectiveCamera;
+  /**
+   * Built alongside the perspective one and kept in step with it, rather than made on demand:
+   * the two share a position, an orientation and a depth range, and a camera that only exists
+   * while it is being looked through is a camera whose state is always one swap out of date.
+   */
+  private orthographic?: THREE.OrthographicCamera;
+  private projection: Projection = 'perspective';
   private running = false;
 
   constructor(private readonly ngZone: NgZone) {}
@@ -33,8 +46,71 @@ export class EngineService {
     return this.requireInitialized(this.scene);
   }
 
-  getCamera(): THREE.PerspectiveCamera {
-    return this.requireInitialized(this.camera);
+  /** The camera the scene is currently drawn through. */
+  getCamera(): SceneCamera {
+    return this.projection === 'orthographic' ? this.requireInitialized(this.orthographic) : this.requireInitialized(this.perspective);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The perspective camera, whichever is active. For the handful of places that need a field of
+   * view to reason with — framing a system, sizing a star — and that go on meaning the same
+   * thing in either projection because the sizes were tuned against this one.
+   */
+  getPerspectiveCamera(): THREE.PerspectiveCamera {
+    return this.requireInitialized(this.perspective);
+  }
+
+  get currentProjection(): Projection {
+    return this.projection;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Switches projection, carrying the pose across. The orthographic frustum is sized to show
+   * the same extent at `distanceToTarget` that the perspective camera showed from there, so the
+   * swap changes how the scene is projected and not how much of it is in frame.
+   */
+  setProjection(projection: Projection, distanceToTarget: number): void {
+    const perspective = this.requireInitialized(this.perspective);
+    const orthographic = this.requireInitialized(this.orthographic);
+    this.projection = projection;
+
+    orthographic.zoom = 1;
+    orthographic.position.copy(perspective.position);
+    orthographic.quaternion.copy(perspective.quaternion);
+    this.frameOrthographic(distanceToTarget);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sizes the orthographic frustum to show, at `distanceToTarget`, what the perspective camera
+   * would show from there. Called every frame while that projection is active, which is what
+   * makes the camera flights work through it: they move the camera, and the frame follows.
+   *
+   * The depth range is symmetric about the camera rather than starting in front of it. An
+   * orthographic camera does not pull back as its frame grows, so at galactic framing the
+   * backdrop shell and half the Milky Way lie behind its own plane and would be clipped away.
+   * A parallel projection has linear depth, so the precision argument that makes a perspective
+   * near plane worth guarding does not apply here.
+   */
+  frameOrthographic(distanceToTarget: number): void {
+    const perspective = this.requireInitialized(this.perspective);
+    const orthographic = this.requireInitialized(this.orthographic);
+    const halfHeight = Math.max(distanceToTarget, 1e-6) * Math.tan((perspective.fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+    orthographic.top = halfHeight;
+    orthographic.bottom = -halfHeight;
+    orthographic.left = -halfHeight * perspective.aspect;
+    orthographic.right = halfHeight * perspective.aspect;
+    orthographic.far = perspective.far;
+    orthographic.near = -perspective.far;
+    orthographic.updateProjectionMatrix();
+  }
+
+  /** Half the height of what is in frame at the target, in world units, under either camera. */
+  visibleHalfHeight(distanceToTarget: number): number {
+    if (this.projection === 'orthographic') {
+      const orthographic = this.requireInitialized(this.orthographic);
+      return (orthographic.top - orthographic.bottom) / (2 * orthographic.zoom);
+    }
+    return distanceToTarget * Math.tan((this.requireInitialized(this.perspective).fov * Math.PI) / 360);
   }
 
   getRenderer(): THREE.WebGPURenderer {
@@ -52,8 +128,10 @@ export class EngineService {
     this.renderer.setPixelRatio(Math.min(window.devicePixelRatio, 2));
 
     this.scene = new THREE.Scene();
-    this.camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, 1, 0.1, 1000);
-    this.camera.position.set(0, 0, 5);
+    this.perspective = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, 1, 0.1, 1000);
+    this.perspective.position.set(0, 0, 5);
+    this.orthographic = new THREE.OrthographicCamera(-1, 1, 1, -1, 0.1, 1000);
+    this.orthographic.position.copy(this.perspective.position);
 
     const { width, height } = this.canvasSize();
     this.resize(width, height);
@@ -99,11 +177,18 @@ export class EngineService {
    * Updates the camera aspect ratio and renderer drawing buffer size.
    */
   resize(width: number, height: number): void {
-    if (!this.renderer || !this.camera || width <= 0 || height <= 0) {
+    if (!this.renderer || !this.perspective || !this.orthographic || width <= 0 || height <= 0) {
       return;
     }
-    this.camera.aspect = width / height;
-    this.camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    const aspect = width / height;
+    this.perspective.aspect = aspect;
+    this.perspective.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    // The orthographic frustum keeps its height and re-fits its width, so a window getting wider
+    // shows more to the sides rather than magnifying what was already there.
+    const halfHeight = (this.orthographic.top - this.orthographic.bottom) / 2;
+    this.orthographic.left = -halfHeight * aspect;
+    this.orthographic.right = halfHeight * aspect;
+    this.orthographic.updateProjectionMatrix();
     this.renderer.setSize(width, height, false);
   }
 
@@ -116,7 +201,8 @@ export class EngineService {
     this.renderer?.dispose();
     this.renderer = undefined;
     this.scene = undefined;
-    this.camera = undefined;
+    this.perspective = undefined;
+    this.orthographic = undefined;
     this.canvas = undefined;
   }
 
@@ -128,7 +214,7 @@ export class EngineService {
       callback(deltaSeconds, elapsedSeconds);
     }
 
-    this.requireInitialized(this.renderer).render(this.requireInitialized(this.scene), this.requireInitialized(this.camera));
+    this.requireInitialized(this.renderer).render(this.requireInitialized(this.scene), this.getCamera());
   }
 
   private canvasSize(): { width: number; height: number } {
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/camera-rig-controller.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/camera-rig-controller.ts
index df1c91d..f5176f0 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/camera-rig-controller.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/camera-rig-controller.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
+
+import { SceneCamera } from '../../core/engine/engine.service';
 import { OrbitControls } from 'three/addons/controls/OrbitControls.js';
 
 export interface CameraPose {
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ export class CameraRigController {
   };
 
   constructor(
-    private readonly camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera,
+    private readonly camera: SceneCamera,
     private readonly controls: OrbitControls
   ) {}
 
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.spec.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.spec.ts
index 3949d25..afa3a81 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.spec.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ const EARTH: BodyRecord = {
 class FakeEngineService {
   private readonly scene = new THREE.Scene();
   private readonly camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, 1, 0.1, 1000);
+  private readonly orthographic = new THREE.OrthographicCamera(-1, 1, 1, -1, 0.1, 1000);
   private readonly tickCallbacks = new Set<EngineTickCallback>();
+  projection: 'perspective' | 'orthographic' = 'perspective';
 
   get isInitialized(): boolean {
     return true;
@@ -78,10 +80,37 @@ class FakeEngineService {
     return this.scene;
   }
 
-  getCamera(): THREE.PerspectiveCamera {
+  getCamera(): THREE.PerspectiveCamera | THREE.OrthographicCamera {
+    return this.projection === 'orthographic' ? this.orthographic : this.camera;
+  }
+
+  getPerspectiveCamera(): THREE.PerspectiveCamera {
     return this.camera;
   }
 
+  get currentProjection(): 'perspective' | 'orthographic' {
+    return this.projection;
+  }
+
+  setProjection(projection: 'perspective' | 'orthographic', distanceToTarget: number): void {
+    this.projection = projection;
+    const halfHeight = Math.max(distanceToTarget, 1e-6) * Math.tan((this.camera.fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+    this.orthographic.top = halfHeight;
+    this.orthographic.bottom = -halfHeight;
+    this.orthographic.left = -halfHeight * this.camera.aspect;
+    this.orthographic.right = halfHeight * this.camera.aspect;
+    this.orthographic.zoom = 1;
+    this.orthographic.position.copy(this.camera.position);
+    this.orthographic.quaternion.copy(this.camera.quaternion);
+    this.orthographic.updateProjectionMatrix();
+  }
+
+  visibleHalfHeight(distanceToTarget: number): number {
+    return this.projection === 'orthographic'
+      ? (this.orthographic.top - this.orthographic.bottom) / (2 * this.orthographic.zoom)
+      : distanceToTarget * Math.tan((this.camera.fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+  }
+
   onTick(callback: EngineTickCallback): () => void {
     this.tickCallbacks.add(callback);
     return () => this.tickCallbacks.delete(callback);
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.ts
index ca688bc..f3fb17a 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/galaxy-system-scene.component.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,15 @@ import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
 import { OrbitControls } from 'three/addons/controls/OrbitControls.js';
 
 import { dateToJulianDate } from '../../shared/astro/constants';
-import { galacticCentrePositionPc, galacticToEquatorial, MILKY_WAY_ARMS, SUN_GALACTOCENTRIC_RADIUS_PC } from '../../shared/astro/galaxy';
+import {
+  GALACTIC_BASIS_EQUATORIAL,
+  MILKY_WAY_ARMS,
+  SUN_GALACTOCENTRIC_RADIUS_PC,
+  galacticCentrePositionPc,
+  galacticToEquatorial
+} from '../../shared/astro/galaxy';
 import { DataLoaderService } from '../../core/data/data-loader.service';
-import { EngineService } from '../../core/engine/engine.service';
+import { EngineService, SceneCamera } from '../../core/engine/engine.service';
 import { BodyRecord } from '../../shared/models/body.model';
 import { DeepSkyRecord } from '../../shared/models/deepsky.model';
 import { ExoplanetRecord } from '../../shared/models/exoplanet.model';
@@ -64,6 +70,13 @@ const LABEL_REACH_NDC = 0.3;
 /** How long the range control has to be still before the graph is rebuilt at its value. */
 const JUMP_LINK_REBUILD_DELAY_MS = 250;
 
+/**
+ * How far in or out the plan view may be zoomed from the extent its distance frames. Under a
+ * parallel projection the wheel changes the frame rather than the distance, so the orbit limits
+ * stop applying and this is what stands in for them.
+ */
+const PLAN_ZOOM_SPAN = 64;
+
 /** How many matches each routing field offers, and how little may be typed to get any. */
 const ROUTE_OPTION_COUNT = 6;
 const MIN_ROUTE_QUERY_LENGTH = 2;
@@ -368,6 +381,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
       }
     });
     effect(() => this.applyDisplay(this.display()));
+    effect(() => this.applyProjection(this.display().plan));
     // Reads both signals, so flipping the layer on and dragging the range each land here. The
     // rebuild is a quarter-second of walking the catalogue, and the range control emits per
     // pixel dragged, so it waits for the hand to settle rather than running once per pixel.
@@ -451,9 +465,13 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     const scene = this.engine.getScene();
     const camera = this.engine.getCamera();
     camera.position.copy(GALAXY_OVERVIEW_POSITION);
-    camera.near = GALAXY_NEAR_PC;
-    camera.far = GALAXY_FAR_PC;
-    camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    // The perspective camera whichever one is live: it is where the depth range is reasoned,
+    // and the plan view re-derives its own from it every frame. Writing to the active camera
+    // put the astronomical-unit range on one that overwrites it, and the system clipped.
+    const depthCamera = this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera();
+    depthCamera.near = GALAXY_NEAR_PC;
+    depthCamera.far = GALAXY_FAR_PC;
+    depthCamera.updateProjectionMatrix();
 
     this.controls = new OrbitControls(camera, canvas);
     this.controls.enableDamping = true;
@@ -546,15 +564,18 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     canvas.addEventListener('pointermove', this.handlePointerMove);
     this.observeResize(canvas);
 
-    this.unsubscribeTick = this.engine.onTick((deltaSeconds) => this.tick(camera, deltaSeconds));
+    // Asked for per frame rather than captured: the projection can be swapped underneath, and a
+    // frame computed against one camera and drawn through the other puts every label off its star.
+    this.unsubscribeTick = this.engine.onTick((deltaSeconds) => this.tick(this.engine.getCamera(), deltaSeconds));
     this.engine.start();
 
     this.ready = true;
     this.reconcileSelection(this.navigationStore.selectedStarId());
   }
 
-  private tick(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera, deltaSeconds: number): void {
+  private tick(camera: SceneCamera, deltaSeconds: number): void {
     this.rig?.update(deltaSeconds);
+    this.frameProjection(camera);
     this.controls?.update();
 
     // Gated on the galaxy group rather than on `currentStarId`, which is only assigned once the
@@ -592,12 +613,16 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * has pulled back from the Sun, so the scale ladder reports where the view already is instead
    * of switching it.
    */
-  private updateGalacticCrossfade(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateGalacticCrossfade(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     if (!this.milkyWay) {
       return;
     }
 
-    const distancePc = camera.position.length();
+    // How much of the Galaxy is in frame, expressed as the distance a perspective camera would
+    // have to be at to show that much. Under a plan view the camera's own distance says nothing
+    // about the extent — the frustum does — so reading `position.length()` there would report a
+    // fixed scale however far the view was zoomed.
+    const distancePc = this.effectiveDistance(camera);
     this.galacticStrength = this.milkyWay.setViewerDistancePc(distancePc);
 
     // Layer toggles from the dock fold in here rather than as a one-off `visible = false`:
@@ -615,7 +640,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     // from inside it, so it cannot also be the sky behind a view of the Galaxy from outside.
     this.engine.getScene().backgroundIntensity = display.sky ? 1 - this.galacticStrength : 0;
 
-    this.applyGalaxyDepthRange(camera, distancePc);
+    this.applyGalaxyDepthRange(distancePc);
     const level: ViewLevel = this.galacticStrength >= GALACTIC_LEVEL_THRESHOLD ? 'galactic' : 'galaxy';
     if (this.navigationStore.viewLevel() !== level && !this.systemGroup.visible) {
       this.navigationStore.setViewLevel(level);
@@ -628,26 +653,47 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * and holding the Galaxy needs a far plane a hundred thousand parsecs out, and a projection
    * spanning both has no precision left to separate one spiral arm from the next.
    */
-  private applyGalaxyDepthRange(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera, distancePc: number): void {
+  /**
+   * What "how far back is the camera" means, in either projection. Under perspective it is the
+   * camera's own distance from the origin; under an orthographic one it is the distance a
+   * perspective camera would need to frame the same extent, so everything keyed on it — the
+   * crossfade, the depth range, the scale ladder — goes on meaning what it meant.
+   */
+  private effectiveDistance(camera: SceneCamera): number {
+    if (this.engine.currentProjection === 'perspective') {
+      return camera.position.length();
+    }
+    const halfHeight = this.engine.visibleHalfHeight(camera.position.distanceTo(this.controls?.target ?? GALAXY_OVERVIEW_TARGET));
+    return halfHeight / Math.tan((this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera().fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+  }
+
+  private applyGalaxyDepthRange(distancePc: number): void {
     const near = THREE.MathUtils.clamp(distancePc / 2000, GALAXY_NEAR_PC, GALACTIC_NEAR_PC);
     const far = THREE.MathUtils.clamp(distancePc * 8, GALAXY_FAR_PC, GALACTIC_FAR_PC);
+    // Written to the perspective camera whichever one is live, because it is the one this range
+    // is reasoned in and the one `frameOrthographic` reads its own from. Skipping it under a plan
+    // view left the far plane wherever it was when the projection changed, so flying out to the
+    // Galaxy from there clipped away most of it.
+    const perspective = this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera();
     // Only when it has drifted enough to matter, so a slow zoom isn't rebuilding the projection
     // matrix on every frame of it.
-    if (Math.abs(near - camera.near) > camera.near * 0.05 || Math.abs(far - camera.far) > camera.far * 0.05) {
-      camera.near = near;
-      camera.far = far;
-      camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    if (Math.abs(near - perspective.near) > perspective.near * 0.05 || Math.abs(far - perspective.far) > perspective.far * 0.05) {
+      perspective.near = near;
+      perspective.far = far;
+      perspective.updateProjectionMatrix();
+      // The plan view's own range is symmetric about the camera and derived from this one; see
+      // `frameOrthographic`. It is re-derived every frame, so there is nothing to do here.
     }
   }
 
-  private updateLabels(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateLabels(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     const selectedId = this.navigationStore.selectedStarId();
     // Measured from what the camera is looking at, not from where it is. Those differ by the
     // orbit distance, so a camera-relative rule names the stars closest to the near edge of the
     // view — a ring of labels around the outside of the thing the user is actually looking at.
     const target = this.controls?.target ?? GALAXY_OVERVIEW_TARGET;
     const { x: cx, y: cy, z: cz } = target;
-    const orbitDistance = (this.controls ? camera.position.distanceTo(target) : GALAXY_OVERVIEW_POSITION.length()) * LABEL_RADIUS_TO_ORBIT_DISTANCE;
+    const orbitDistance = (this.controls ? this.effectiveDistance(camera) : GALAXY_OVERVIEW_POSITION.length()) * LABEL_RADIUS_TO_ORBIT_DISTANCE;
     const labelRadius = THREE.MathUtils.clamp(orbitDistance, MIN_LABEL_RADIUS_PC, MAX_LABEL_RADIUS_PC);
     const maxDistanceSq = labelRadius * labelRadius;
 
@@ -704,7 +750,13 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * `keepId` is exempt from both tests — it is the selection, which is about to be flown to, and
    * its label going missing mid-flight reads as the target having been lost.
    */
-  private spreadLabels(candidates: readonly LabeledPoint[], camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera, keepId: number | string | null): LabeledPoint[] {
+  /** The frame's shape, from the canvas rather than the camera: only one of the two has it. */
+  private viewportAspect(): number {
+    const canvas = this.canvasRef().nativeElement;
+    return canvas.clientHeight > 0 ? canvas.clientWidth / canvas.clientHeight : 1;
+  }
+
+  private spreadLabels(candidates: readonly LabeledPoint[], camera: SceneCamera, keepId: number | string | null): LabeledPoint[] {
     const placed: THREE.Vector2[] = [];
     const chosen: LabeledPoint[] = [];
     const projected = new THREE.Vector3();
@@ -721,7 +773,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
         continue;
       }
 
-      const point = new THREE.Vector2(projected.x * camera.aspect, projected.y);
+      const point = new THREE.Vector2(projected.x * this.viewportAspect(), projected.y);
       if (!isKept && placed.some((other) => other.distanceTo(point) < LABEL_MIN_SEPARATION_NDC)) {
         continue;
       }
@@ -750,7 +802,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * their rim to the card's near edge. Screen-space work done here, once per frame, because the
    * body moves every frame and the card's height depends on its content.
    */
-  private updateSelectionMark(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateSelectionMark(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     const leader = this.leaderRef().nativeElement;
     const member = this.systemGroup.visible && this.cardBodyId !== null ? this.systemRenderer?.members.find((candidate) => candidate.id === this.cardBodyId) : undefined;
     if (!member) {
@@ -765,7 +817,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     const card = this.objectCardElement();
     const canvas = this.canvasRef().nativeElement;
     const projected = world.clone().project(camera);
-    if (!card || projected.z > 1) {
+    if (!card || projected.z > 1 || projected.z < -1) {
       leader.setAttribute('visibility', 'hidden');
       return;
     }
@@ -844,7 +896,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * moved along the ring where a HUD panel already holds that place. `null` where the whole
    * neighbourhood of that bearing is covered.
    */
-  private neighbourRingPosition(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera, direction: THREE.Vector3): THREE.Vector3 | null {
+  private neighbourRingPosition(camera: SceneCamera, direction: THREE.Vector3): THREE.Vector3 | null {
     const bearing = this.ringBearing.copy(direction).applyQuaternion(this.ringInverse.copy(camera.quaternion).invert());
     // A neighbour behind the camera keeps the side it is on, which is still the way to turn to
     // bring it round.
@@ -854,6 +906,13 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     if (!placed) {
       return null;
     }
+    if (this.engine.currentProjection === 'orthographic') {
+      // A parallel projection has no vanishing point to walk towards: every ray through the
+      // frame is the view direction, so treating the unprojected offset as one and stepping
+      // along it throws the sideways part away and pulls the whole ring into the middle. The
+      // unprojected point is already where the name goes.
+      return this.ringPoint.set(placed.x, placed.y, 0).unproject(camera);
+    }
     const along = this.ringPoint.set(placed.x, placed.y, 0.5).unproject(camera).sub(camera.position).normalize();
     return along.multiplyScalar(NEIGHBOUR_DEPTH_AU).add(camera.position);
   }
@@ -872,7 +931,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * happened to be in front and stay silent about the rest. What survives is the half of the
    * direction a viewer can act on: which way to turn to face it.
    */
-  private neighbourLabels(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): LabeledPoint[] {
+  private neighbourLabels(camera: SceneCamera): LabeledPoint[] {
     this.refreshReservedBoxes();
     return this.neighbours.flatMap(({ star, distancePc, direction }) => {
       const position = this.neighbourRingPosition(camera, direction);
@@ -899,7 +958,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * — five a second — any camera movement would drag them off the ring and snap them back. This
    * runs every frame and costs four vector operations.
    */
-  private updateNeighbourRing(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateNeighbourRing(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     if (!this.systemGroup.visible || this.neighbours.length === 0) {
       return;
     }
@@ -922,7 +981,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
    * Moons are left out entirely: they sit within a marker's width of their planet at system
    * framing, so their labels could only ever print on top of it.
    */
-  private updateSystemLabels(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateSystemLabels(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     const renderer = this.systemRenderer;
     if (!renderer) {
       this.labelOverlay?.update([]);
@@ -966,6 +1025,97 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
   }
 
   /** Refreshes the readout panel for whichever scale the view is currently at. */
+  /** A zoom carried from one unit space into the other would frame nothing recognisable. */
+  private resetZoom(): void {
+    const camera = this.engine.getCamera();
+    if ((camera as THREE.OrthographicCamera).isOrthographicCamera) {
+      (camera as THREE.OrthographicCamera).zoom = 1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Keeps the plan view's frame, its zoom limits and its star sizes in step with the camera.
+   *
+   * All three are functions of how far the camera is orbiting from its target, which is the one
+   * thing the flights already animate — so a system entered, left or flown between reframes
+   * itself under this projection with the easing the perspective flights have, and no camera
+   * rig knows anything about it.
+   */
+  private frameProjection(camera: SceneCamera): void {
+    if (!this.controls) {
+      return;
+    }
+    if (this.engine.currentProjection !== 'orthographic') {
+      this.starField?.setProjection(null);
+      this.hostRings?.setProjection(null);
+      return;
+    }
+    const distance = camera.position.distanceTo(this.controls.target);
+    this.engine.frameOrthographic(distance);
+    // Zoom is what a wheel moves under this projection, so the orbit clamps have to be restated
+    // as the zoom levels that frame the same extents.
+    // A plain multiplier on the frame the distance already sets, bounded by a factor rather than
+    // by the orbit limits: those are in whichever unit space the view is in, and reading them on
+    // the frame the scene swaps from parsecs to astronomical units pins the zoom at the ratio
+    // between the two — which is how leaving a system used to land the view three kiloparsecs out.
+    this.controls.minZoom = 1 / PLAN_ZOOM_SPAN;
+    this.controls.maxZoom = PLAN_ZOOM_SPAN;
+    const halfHeight = this.engine.visibleHalfHeight(distance);
+    this.starField?.setProjection(halfHeight);
+    this.hostRings?.setProjection(halfHeight);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Switches between the perspective view and the plan: an orthographic projection looking down
+   * the plane the current scale is read against — the galactic plane out here, this system's own
+   * orbital plane inside one.
+   *
+   * Both halves matter and neither alone is "2D". The projection is what makes a circle a circle
+   * wherever it sits in the frame instead of an ellipse that leans away from the centre; the
+   * swing to face the plane is what makes that worth looking at. Orbiting still works afterwards,
+   * so the plan is where a plan view starts, not a cage.
+   */
+  private applyProjection(plan: boolean): void {
+    if (!this.controls || !this.rig || this.engine.currentProjection === (plan ? 'orthographic' : 'perspective')) {
+      return;
+    }
+    const camera = this.engine.getCamera();
+    const target = this.controls.target.clone();
+    const distance = camera.position.distanceTo(target);
+
+    this.engine.setProjection(plan ? 'orthographic' : 'perspective', distance);
+    const next = this.engine.getCamera();
+    // OrbitControls holds one camera for the lifetime of the gesture state it keeps; handing it
+    // the other one keeps the target, the damping and the pointer bindings it already has.
+    this.controls.object = next;
+    this.rig = new CameraRigController(next, this.controls);
+    next.position.copy(camera.position);
+    next.up.copy(camera.up);
+
+    if (plan) {
+      // Straight down the plane's normal, from where the camera already was.
+      // Down the normal of the plane this scale is actually read against. Inside a system that
+      // is the system's own orbital plane; outside it, the galactic plane — whose normal is the
+      // north galactic pole, not the celestial one. Defaulting to the scene's own z would have
+      // looked down the Earth's rotation axis and called it the plane of the Galaxy.
+      const galactic = GALACTIC_BASIS_EQUATORIAL;
+      const inSystem = this.systemGroup.visible && this.systemRenderer;
+      const normal = inSystem
+        ? new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 1).applyQuaternion(this.systemRenderer!.referenceFrame)
+        : new THREE.Vector3(galactic.z.x, galactic.z.y, galactic.z.z);
+      next.position.copy(target).add(normal.multiplyScalar(distance));
+      if (inSystem) {
+        next.up.set(0, 1, 0).applyQuaternion(this.systemRenderer!.referenceFrame);
+      } else {
+        // Towards the galactic centre, so the plan is oriented the way the model is described.
+        next.up.set(galactic.x.x, galactic.x.y, galactic.x.z);
+      }
+    }
+    next.lookAt(target);
+    this.controls.update();
+    this.applyDisplay(this.display());
+  }
+
   /**
    * Shows or hides the layers that hold still between frames: the label layer and the system
    * view's orbits and grid. The galaxy grids and deep-sky shell are crossfaded every frame
@@ -984,7 +1134,7 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     }
   }
 
-  private updateHud(camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private updateHud(camera: SceneCamera): void {
     const star = this.currentStarId === null ? undefined : this.starsById.get(this.currentStarId);
 
     if (this.systemGroup.visible && star) {
@@ -1004,11 +1154,11 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
         ...(luminosity !== null ? [{ label: 'Luminosity', value: formatLuminosity(luminosity), derived: true }] : [])
       ]);
       this.hudNote.set('Orbits propagated from published elements to the current date.');
-      this.hudRange.set(formatAu(camera.position.distanceTo(this.controls?.target ?? GALAXY_OVERVIEW_TARGET)));
+      this.hudRange.set(formatAu(this.engine.visibleHalfHeight(camera.position.distanceTo(this.controls?.target ?? GALAXY_OVERVIEW_TARGET)) / Math.tan((this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera().fov * Math.PI) / 360)));
       return;
     }
 
-    this.hudRange.set(formatParsecs(camera.position.length()));
+    this.hudRange.set(formatParsecs(this.effectiveDistance(camera)));
 
     if (this.galacticStrength >= GALACTIC_LEVEL_THRESHOLD) {
       this.hudEyebrow.set('Galactic Scale');
@@ -1071,13 +1221,13 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     }
   };
 
-  private handleGalaxyClick(pointerNdc: THREE.Vector2, camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): void {
+  private handleGalaxyClick(pointerNdc: THREE.Vector2, camera: SceneCamera): void {
     if (!this.starField) {
       return;
     }
     // Screen-space rather than a raycast: the star field billboards in the vertex shader, so
     // its CPU-side geometry is a single quad at the origin. See `StarFieldRenderer.pickAt`.
-    const starId = this.starField.pickAt(pointerNdc, camera);
+    const starId = this.starField.pickAt(pointerNdc, camera, this.viewportAspect());
     if (starId !== undefined) {
       this.navigationStore.selectStar(starId);
     }
@@ -1308,7 +1458,10 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     // the wider of the two — and against the camera this scene actually has, so the margin holds
     // whatever the window shape. Computed before the star, because how far away the star will be
     // seen from is what decides how big its halo has to be to stay visible.
-    const viewport = { fovDegrees: camera.fov, aspect: camera.aspect };
+    // Framed against the perspective camera whichever is active: the framing distance is what
+    // the orthographic frustum is then sized from, so both projections show the same extent.
+    const framingCamera = this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera();
+    const viewport = { fovDegrees: framingCamera.fov, aspect: framingCamera.aspect };
     const framingDistance = systemFramingDistanceAu(this.systemRenderer.gridOuterRadiusAu, viewport);
     const frameRadiusAu = systemFrameRadiusAu(framingDistance, viewport);
 
@@ -1339,12 +1492,17 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     // clumped over the system's star.
     this.labelOverlay?.update([]);
 
-    camera.near = SYSTEM_NEAR_AU;
-    camera.far = SYSTEM_FAR_AU;
-    camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    // The perspective camera whichever one is live: it is where the depth range is reasoned,
+    // and the plan view re-derives its own from it every frame. Writing to the active camera
+    // put the astronomical-unit range on one that overwrites it, and the system clipped.
+    const depthCamera = this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera();
+    depthCamera.near = SYSTEM_NEAR_AU;
+    depthCamera.far = SYSTEM_FAR_AU;
+    depthCamera.updateProjectionMatrix();
     this.controls!.minDistance = SYSTEM_MIN_DISTANCE_AU;
     this.controls!.maxDistance = SYSTEM_MAX_DISTANCE_AU;
 
+    this.resetZoom();
     this.rig!.setImmediate({ position: direction.clone().multiplyScalar(SYSTEM_ENTRY_DISTANCE_AU), target: new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0) });
 
     // Arrives along whichever direction the approach came from, then swings round to look down
@@ -1389,12 +1547,17 @@ export class GalaxySystemSceneComponent implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
     // into the next system entered.
     this.clearObjectCard();
 
-    camera.near = GALAXY_NEAR_PC;
-    camera.far = GALAXY_FAR_PC;
-    camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+    // The perspective camera whichever one is live: it is where the depth range is reasoned,
+    // and the plan view re-derives its own from it every frame. Writing to the active camera
+    // put the astronomical-unit range on one that overwrites it, and the system clipped.
+    const depthCamera = this.engine.getPerspectiveCamera();
+    depthCamera.near = GALAXY_NEAR_PC;
+    depthCamera.far = GALAXY_FAR_PC;
+    depthCamera.updateProjectionMatrix();
     this.controls!.minDistance = GALAXY_MIN_DISTANCE_PC;
     this.controls!.maxDistance = GALAXY_MAX_DISTANCE_PC;
 
+    this.resetZoom();
     this.rig!.setImmediate({ position: starPc.clone().add(direction.clone().multiplyScalar(GALAXY_APPROACH_DISTANCE_PC)), target: starPc });
 
     if (isSwitchingSystems) {
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/host-star-rings.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/host-star-rings.ts
index 7469f17..2b634ae 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/host-star-rings.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/host-star-rings.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
-import { color, float, instancedBufferAttribute, smoothstep, uniform, uv, vec2 } from 'three/tsl';
+import { color, float, instancedBufferAttribute, mix, modelViewMatrix, smoothstep, uniform, uv, vec2, vec4 } from 'three/tsl';
 
 import { StarRecord } from '../../shared/models/star.model';
-import { PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE } from './angular-size';
+import { PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE, REFERENCE_FOV_DEGREES } from './angular-size';
 
 /** Ring diameter in screen pixels at the reference viewport — angular, like the star points. */
 const RING_SIZE_PX = 12;
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ export class HostStarRings {
   private readonly geometry: THREE.InstancedBufferGeometry;
   private readonly material: THREE.SpriteNodeMaterial;
   private readonly opacity = uniform(RING_PEAK_OPACITY);
+  /** 1 under a perspective camera, 0 under an orthographic one. See `setProjection`. */
+  private readonly perspective = uniform(1);
+  private readonly orthographicScale = uniform(float(0));
 
   constructor(hosts: readonly StarRecord[], accent: number) {
     const positions = new Float32Array(hosts.length * 3);
@@ -44,9 +47,13 @@ export class HostStarRings {
     this.geometry = createQuadGeometry(hosts.length);
 
     this.material = new THREE.SpriteNodeMaterial({ transparent: true, depthWrite: false });
-    this.material.sizeAttenuation = false;
-    this.material.positionNode = instancedBufferAttribute(new THREE.InstancedBufferAttribute(positions, 3), 'vec3');
-    this.material.scaleNode = float(RING_SIZE_PX * PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE);
+    // As in the star field: the angular-to-world conversion is done here rather than by
+    // `sizeAttenuation: false`, which three.js applies only under a perspective camera.
+    this.material.sizeAttenuation = true;
+    const position = instancedBufferAttribute<'vec3'>(new THREE.InstancedBufferAttribute(positions, 3), 'vec3');
+    this.material.positionNode = position;
+    const viewDepth = modelViewMatrix.mul(vec4(position, 1)).z.negate();
+    this.material.scaleNode = float(RING_SIZE_PX * PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE).mul(mix(this.orthographicScale, viewDepth, this.perspective));
     this.material.colorNode = color(accent);
     // Opaque on the ring's centreline, falling to nothing one stroke-width either side.
     const distanceFromRing = uv().sub(vec2(0.5)).length().sub(RING_RADIUS_UV).abs();
@@ -59,6 +66,12 @@ export class HostStarRings {
     this.count = hosts.length;
   }
 
+  /** Which projection the rings are drawn under; see `StarFieldRenderer.setProjection`. */
+  setProjection(halfHeightWorld: number | null): void {
+    this.perspective.value = halfHeightWorld === null ? 1 : 0;
+    this.orthographicScale.value = halfHeightWorld === null ? 0 : halfHeightWorld / Math.tan((REFERENCE_FOV_DEGREES * Math.PI) / 360);
+  }
+
   /** Crossfaded with the local grid: from outside the Galaxy the rings are noise. */
   setStrength(strength: number): void {
     const clamped = THREE.MathUtils.clamp(strength, 0, 1);
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.spec.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.spec.ts
index 61eb976..ad56b43 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.spec.ts
@@ -152,13 +152,13 @@ describe('StarFieldRenderer', () => {
     it('finds the star under the pointer', () => {
       const renderer = new StarFieldRenderer(picked, packPositions(picked));
       // Both Near and Far project to the screen centre; either is a correct hit.
-      expect([1, 2]).toContain(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera));
+      expect([1, 2]).toContain(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera, camera.aspect));
       renderer.dispose();
     });
 
     it('returns undefined when the pointer is on empty sky', () => {
       const renderer = new StarFieldRenderer(picked, packPositions(picked));
-      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(-0.9, 0.9), camera)).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(-0.9, 0.9), camera, camera.aspect)).toBeUndefined();
       renderer.dispose();
     });
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ describe('StarFieldRenderer', () => {
       const behind = [star({ id: 7, x: 0, y: 0, z: 10 })];
       const renderer = new StarFieldRenderer(behind, packPositions(behind));
 
-      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera)).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera, camera.aspect)).toBeUndefined();
       renderer.dispose();
     });
 
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ describe('StarFieldRenderer', () => {
 
       // Aim at where star 2 projects, and confirm we get it rather than its neighbours.
       const target = new THREE.Vector3(0, 2, -10).project(camera);
-      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(target.x, target.y), camera)).toBe(2);
+      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(target.x, target.y), camera, camera.aspect)).toBe(2);
       renderer.dispose();
     });
 
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ describe('StarFieldRenderer', () => {
       // Walk outward from the centre until each stops being pickable.
       const reach = (renderer: StarFieldRenderer): number => {
         let offset = 0;
-        while (offset < 1 && renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, offset), camera) !== undefined) {
+        while (offset < 1 && renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, offset), camera, camera.aspect) !== undefined) {
           offset += 0.001;
         }
         return offset;
@@ -212,13 +212,13 @@ describe('StarFieldRenderer', () => {
       const faint = [star({ id: 5, x: 0, y: 0, z: -10, magnitude: 15 })];
       const renderer = new StarFieldRenderer(faint, packPositions(faint));
 
-      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0.005), camera)).toBe(5);
+      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0.005), camera, camera.aspect)).toBe(5);
       renderer.dispose();
     });
 
     it('finds nothing in an empty field', () => {
       const renderer = new StarFieldRenderer([], new Float32Array(0));
-      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera)).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(renderer.pickAt(new THREE.Vector2(0, 0), camera, camera.aspect)).toBeUndefined();
       renderer.dispose();
     });
   });
diff --git a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.ts b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.ts
index 78491f4..8220d43 100644
--- a/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/galaxy-system/star-field-renderer.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import * as THREE from 'three/webgpu';
-import { instancedBufferAttribute, smoothstep, uv, vec2 } from 'three/tsl';
+import { float, instancedBufferAttribute, mix, modelViewMatrix, smoothstep, uniform, uv, vec2, vec4 } from 'three/tsl';
 
 import { spectralTypeToColorIndex } from '../../shared/astro/spectral';
-import { PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE, REFERENCE_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT_PX } from './angular-size';
+import { SceneCamera } from '../../core/engine/engine.service';
 import { StarRecord } from '../../shared/models/star.model';
+import { PIXELS_TO_ANGULAR_SIZE, REFERENCE_FOV_DEGREES, REFERENCE_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT_PX } from './angular-size';
 
 /** Apparent star diameters, in pixels at {@link REFERENCE_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT_PX}. */
 const MIN_POINT_SIZE = 1.5;
@@ -160,6 +161,10 @@ export class StarFieldRenderer {
   /** How many of the catalogue's stars this field actually draws. */
   readonly drawnCount: number;
 
+  /** 1 under a perspective camera, 0 under an orthographic one. See `setProjection`. */
+  private readonly perspective = uniform(1);
+  private readonly orthographicScale = uniform(float(0));
+
   private readonly geometry: THREE.InstancedBufferGeometry;
   private readonly material: THREE.SpriteNodeMaterial;
   /** The subset of the catalogue that is drawn, and so the only set that can be clicked. */
@@ -200,10 +205,22 @@ export class StarFieldRenderer {
       depthWrite: false,
       blending: THREE.AdditiveBlending
     });
-    this.material.sizeAttenuation = false;
-    this.material.positionNode = instancedBufferAttribute(positionAttribute, 'vec3');
-    this.material.scaleNode = instancedBufferAttribute(sizeAttribute, 'float');
-    this.material.colorNode = instancedBufferAttribute(colorAttribute, 'vec3');
+    // The compensation that turns an angular size into a world size is done here rather than by
+    // `sizeAttenuation: false`, which three.js applies only when it is compiling against a
+    // perspective camera (SpriteNodeMaterial.js: `camera.isPerspectiveCamera && sizeAttenuation
+    // === false`). Under an orthographic one it is silently skipped and every star collapses to
+    // a thousandth of a parsec — invisible. Doing the same arithmetic in the node graph, behind
+    // a uniform, lets one material serve both cameras without being recompiled between them.
+    this.material.sizeAttenuation = true;
+    const position = instancedBufferAttribute<'vec3'>(positionAttribute, 'vec3');
+    const angularSize = instancedBufferAttribute<'float'>(sizeAttribute, 'float');
+    this.material.positionNode = position;
+    // Perspective: a star's world size is its angular size times how far away it is, which is
+    // exactly what the built-in does. Orthographic: distance does not set apparent size at all,
+    // the frustum does, so the same angular size is scaled by the frustum instead.
+    const viewDepth = modelViewMatrix.mul(vec4(position, 1)).z.negate();
+    this.material.scaleNode = angularSize.mul(mix(this.orthographicScale, viewDepth, this.perspective));
+    this.material.colorNode = instancedBufferAttribute<'vec3'>(colorAttribute, 'vec3');
     // Soft radial falloff so each star is a small bright core inside a halo, rather than a
     // hard-edged square. `uv` runs 0..1 across the quad, so 0.5 is its centre.
     const radius = uv().sub(vec2(0.5)).length();
@@ -215,6 +232,19 @@ export class StarFieldRenderer {
     this.object.frustumCulled = false;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Tells the field which projection it is being drawn under.
+   *
+   * `halfHeightWorld` is half the orthographic frustum's height in world units; `null` means a
+   * perspective camera, where a star's distance sets its apparent size on its own.
+   */
+  setProjection(halfHeightWorld: number | null): void {
+    this.perspective.value = halfHeightWorld === null ? 1 : 0;
+    // The world size that subtends the same share of the viewport an angular size would under
+    // the reference field of view: `angular * halfHeight / tan(fov/2)`.
+    this.orthographicScale.value = halfHeightWorld === null ? 0 : halfHeightWorld / Math.tan((REFERENCE_FOV_DEGREES * Math.PI) / 360);
+  }
+
   /** Looks up the HYG star id for a given instance index. */
   starIdAt(instanceIndex: number): number | undefined {
     return this.stars[instanceIndex]?.id;
@@ -230,8 +260,14 @@ export class StarFieldRenderer {
    * what the user sees at every zoom level instead of being over-permissive up close and
    * sub-pixel at the far end of the camera's range.
    */
-  pickAt(pointerNdc: THREE.Vector2, camera: THREE.PerspectiveCamera): number | undefined {
-    const tanHalfFov = Math.tan((camera.fov * Math.PI) / 360);
+  pickAt(pointerNdc: THREE.Vector2, camera: SceneCamera, aspect: number): number | undefined {
+    // What a unit of angular size is worth on screen. Under perspective the field of view sets
+    // it. Under an orthographic camera the frustum does — but `setProjection` sized the sprite
+    // as `angular * halfHeight / tan(REFERENCE_FOV/2)` in the first place, so dividing back out
+    // by that same half-height leaves the reference field of view and nothing else. Both cases
+    // are therefore one formula over a different angle.
+    const perspective = (camera as THREE.PerspectiveCamera).isPerspectiveCamera;
+    const tanHalfFov = Math.tan(((perspective ? (camera as THREE.PerspectiveCamera).fov : REFERENCE_FOV_DEGREES) * Math.PI) / 360);
     const projected = new THREE.Vector3();
 
     let bestIndex: number | undefined;
@@ -249,7 +285,7 @@ export class StarFieldRenderer {
       // A sprite square in view space projects to an ellipse in NDC: the same half-extent in y,
       // divided by the aspect ratio in x. Scaling dx by the aspect makes the comparison circular.
       const ndcRadius = (0.5 * this.angularSizes[index]) / tanHalfFov + PICK_NDC_SLOP;
-      const dx = (projected.x - pointerNdc.x) * camera.aspect;
+      const dx = (projected.x - pointerNdc.x) * aspect;
       const dy = projected.y - pointerNdc.y;
       const score = Math.hypot(dx, dy) / ndcRadius;
 
diff --git a/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.spec.ts b/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.spec.ts
index 8fdf075..0ced268 100644
--- a/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.spec.ts
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ describe('HudDockComponent', () => {
     fixture.componentRef.setInput('defaultTab', 'display');
     fixture.detectChanges();
     const pressed = [...host().querySelectorAll('[aria-pressed]')].map((b) => `${b.textContent?.trim()}=${b.getAttribute('aria-pressed')}`);
-    expect(pressed).toEqual(['Labels=true', 'Orbits=true', 'Grid=false', 'Deep sky=true', 'Sky=true', 'Systems=true', 'Jump links=false']);
+    expect(pressed).toEqual(['Labels=true', 'Orbits=true', 'Grid=false', 'Deep sky=true', 'Sky=true', 'Systems=true', 'Jump links=false', 'Plan view=false']);
   });
 
   it('says how to keep a place, rather than showing an empty list', () => {
diff --git a/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.ts b/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.ts
index 6358467..3c9ae97 100644
--- a/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/hud/hud-dock.component.ts
@@ -27,9 +27,11 @@ export interface HudDisplay {
   readonly systems: boolean;
   /** The graph of crossings within the range the Routes panel is set to. */
   readonly jumpLinks: boolean;
+  /** Drawn flat: an orthographic projection, looking down on the plane. */
+  readonly plan: boolean;
 }
 
-export const DEFAULT_HUD_DISPLAY: HudDisplay = { labels: true, orbits: true, grid: true, deepSky: true, sky: true, systems: true, jumpLinks: false };
+export const DEFAULT_HUD_DISPLAY: HudDisplay = { labels: true, orbits: true, grid: true, deepSky: true, sky: true, systems: true, jumpLinks: false, plan: false };
 
 const DISPLAY_LAYERS: readonly { key: keyof HudDisplay; label: string }[] = [
   { key: 'labels', label: 'Labels' },
@@ -38,7 +40,8 @@ const DISPLAY_LAYERS: readonly { key: keyof HudDisplay; label: string }[] = [
   { key: 'deepSky', label: 'Deep sky' },
   { key: 'sky', label: 'Sky' },
   { key: 'systems', label: 'Systems' },
-  { key: 'jumpLinks', label: 'Jump links' }
+  { key: 'jumpLinks', label: 'Jump links' },
+  { key: 'plan', label: 'Plan view' }
 ];
 
 export type DockTab = 'search' | 'readout' | 'routes' | 'bookmarks' | 'display';