--- title: "How Orbit Works: Apps & Roles" description: "An orientation to Orbit's four apps and who works in each, who can see what, and why each company's Orbit is configured differently." url: "https://support.pr-4.orbit.do/en/getting-started/how-orbit-works-apps-roles" locale: "en" apps: ["mission", "hub", "connect", "cockpit"] lastReviewed: "2026-07-01" --- # How Orbit Works: Apps & Roles An orientation to Orbit's four apps and who works in each, who can see what, and why each company's Orbit is configured differently. > **Note:** Orbit is made up of four connected apps, one for each kind of person in a logistics operation. This article explains what each app is for, who works in it, and how Orbit makes sure everyone sees exactly what they need. A logistics operation brings together several kinds of people: the team that orchestrates the work, the customers whose goods need moving, the companies that carry them, and the drivers behind the wheel. Each has a different job to do, so Orbit gives each of them their own app. All four apps work on the same live data, so a change made in one is reflected across the others in real time. If you orchestrate the operation, your app is **Orbit MissionControl** — the operator view, where the whole picture comes together. This article gives you an orientation to the other three apps and to the people who use them, so you know who is working where and what each of them can see. **Key highlights:** * **One system, four apps** — Orbit MissionControl, Orbit Hub, Orbit Connect and Orbit Cockpit, each built for a different part of the operation. * **Everyone sees what they need** — visibility follows the role, so customers and carriers see only their own work, while operators see the whole operation. * **Roles describe what a party does, not who they are** — the same role can be an external customer at one company and an internal department at another. * **Your Orbit is set up for your company** — booking forms, custom fields, pricing and how work is dispatched are all configured for you, so what you see reflects your own setup. ## The four Orbit apps Each functional role works in the app built for it. The four apps share one set of live records, so an `Order` booked in one app, a `Tour` assigned in another, and a delivery confirmed on the road all stay in step automatically. ### Orbit MissionControl — for operators Operators orchestrate the whole operation, and Orbit MissionControl is where they do it. From here an operator takes bookings, plans `Shipment`s into `Tour`s, assigns carriers, tracks progress, and handles documents and billing. The operator view sees everything across the operation — this is almost certainly the app you are using now. ### Orbit Hub — for shippers A shipper is the party whose goods are being moved. Orbit Hub is a self-service booking portal, styled with your company's branding, where a shipper places its own bookings and follows the progress of its own orders. A shipper sees only its own bookings. ### Orbit Connect — for carriers A carrier is the company that actually carries the goods. Orbit Connect is where a carrier manages the `Tour`s assigned to it and responds to offers of available work. A carrier sees only its own assigned `Tour`s and the offers made to it, together with its own agreed rate. ### Orbit Cockpit — for drivers A driver is the person carrying out the journey, and belongs to a carrier. Orbit Cockpit is the mobile app a driver uses to run a `Tour` stop by stop: arriving at each `Stop`, loading and unloading, capturing proof of delivery such as photos and signatures, and sharing live location so the operator and customer can follow along. ## Who sees what Because visibility follows the role, each party gets a clear view of its own work and nothing else. You can invite customers and carriers into their own apps with confidence: * A **carrier** sees only the `Tour`s assigned to it and the offers made to it, plus its own agreed rate. It never sees the customer's `Order` or the price you charge your customer. * A **shipper** sees only its own bookings and how they are progressing — never another shipper's orders, and never a carrier's details. * An **operator**, working in Orbit MissionControl, sees the whole operation. Work can also be assigned more precisely: a `Tour` can go to a whole carrier company, to one of its teams, or to a single driver. Assignment steers who is asked to do the work. It does not by itself hide the tour from the rest of the carrier: with the standard carrier roles, everyone in the carrier still sees the carrier's tours. If a carrier needs people to see only their own tours, a custom role with a matching condition narrows the view. The same applies on the customer side. For how work is distributed across companies, teams and people, see the related article on how work is assigned. ## Roles describe what a party does — not who they are The words **operator**, **shipper**, **carrier** and **driver** describe a function in the operation, not a fixed type of business. Who actually fills each role depends on the company running Orbit: | Role | At a freight forwarder | At a company running its own logistics in-house | | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Shipper** (the goods are booked for them) | an external, paying customer | an internal plant, site or department that needs goods moved | | **Carrier** (executes the transport) | a subcontracted haulier | a hired freight forwarder, or the company's own fleet | | **Operator** (orchestrates) | the forwarder's own dispatch desk | the company's in-house logistics team | So it is best not to assume that a "carrier" is always an outside company, or that a "shipper" is always an external customer. Read each role as the job it does in your operation. ## Your Orbit is configured for your company Orbit serves many logistics companies, and each one sets it up to match how it works. The booking forms your customers fill in, the custom fields that appear on your records, whether and how you price services, and how work is handed to carriers are all configured for your company. Two companies using Orbit can look and behave like quite different products. Because of this, it is best not to assume a default — what you see in your Orbit reflects your own setup. For the parts you can tailor, see the related articles on custom fields, on products and pricing, and on how work is assigned to carriers. ## Example Amara, an operator at a logistics company, works in Orbit MissionControl. One of her customers, Orion Industries in Lisbon, books a pallet of goods to Kraków through Orbit Hub and can follow that order's progress there. Amara plans the `Shipment` onto a `Tour` and offers the work to a carrier, Spaceport Shipping Co. in Warsaw, which accepts it in Orbit Connect — where it sees the `Tour` and its own agreed rate, but not the price Orion Industries is paying. The carrier's driver, Mateusz, runs the `Tour` in Orbit Cockpit, confirming pickup in Lisbon and capturing a signature at delivery in Kraków. Throughout, Amara sees the whole journey in Orbit MissionControl, Orion Industries sees its own order updating in Orbit Hub, and Spaceport Shipping Co. sees only its own work. ## Frequently asked questions **Q: Which app should I use?** If you orchestrate the operation, you work in Orbit MissionControl. Your customers use Orbit Hub, the carriers you work with use Orbit Connect, and their drivers use Orbit Cockpit. **Q: Can my carriers see how much I charge my customers?** No. A carrier sees only its own assigned `Tour`s, the offers made to it, and its own agreed rate. The customer's `Order` and the price you charge are never visible to a carrier. **Q: Can one customer see another customer's bookings?** No. A shipper sees only its own bookings and their progress in Orbit Hub. It never sees another shipper's orders or a carrier's details. **Q: Is a "shipper" always an external customer?** Not necessarily. A shipper is whoever the goods are booked for. At a freight forwarder that is usually an external paying customer; at a company moving its own goods it may be an internal plant, site or department. The same flexibility applies to carriers and operators. **Q: Why does my Orbit look different from another company's?** Each company configures Orbit to fit how it works — booking forms, custom fields, pricing and dispatch all differ. What you see reflects your company's own setup, so it is best not to assume a default. **Q: Do I have to use all four apps?** No. You use the apps that fit your operation. For example, a company that takes bookings by other means may not use Orbit Hub, and one that only works with its own fleet may make little use of Orbit Connect. **Q: Can I connect Orbit to my own systems?** Yes. Alongside the apps, Orbit offers a REST API and webhooks for programmatic access and integrations. For details, see the Orbit API Reference.