diff --git a/src/celengine/samporbit.cpp b/src/celengine/samporbit.cpp
index 2105fa21d..c027cac8f 100644
--- a/src/celengine/samporbit.cpp
+++ b/src/celengine/samporbit.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <celengine/astro.h>
 #include <celengine/orbit.h>
 #include <celengine/samporbit.h>
+#include <celengine/xyzvbinary.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 
@@ -870,6 +871,77 @@ template <typename T> SampledOrbitXYZV<T>* LoadSampledOrbitXYZV(const string& fi
     return orbit;
 }
 
+/* Load a binary xyzv sampled trajectory file.
+ */
+template <typename T> SampledOrbitXYZV<T>*
+LoadSampledOrbitXYZVBinary(const string& filename, TrajectoryInterpolation interpolation, T /*unused*/)
+{
+    ifstream in(filename.c_str(), ios::binary);
+    if (!in.good())
+    {
+        //cerr << "Error openning " << filename << ".\n";
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    XYZVBinaryHeader header;
+    if (!in.read(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&header), sizeof(header)))
+    {
+        cerr << "Error reading header of " << filename << ".\n";
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (string(header.magic) != "CELXYZV")
+    {
+        cerr << "Bad binary xyzv file " << filename << ".\n";
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (header.byteOrder != __BYTE_ORDER__)
+    {
+        cerr << "Unsupported byte order " << header.byteOrder
+             << ", expected " << __BYTE_ORDER__ << ".\n";
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+
+    if (header.digits != std::numeric_limits<double>::digits)
+    {
+        cerr << "Unsupported digits number " << header.digits
+             << ", expected " << std::numeric_limits<double>::digits << ".\n";
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (header.count == 0)
+        return NULL;
+
+    SampledOrbitXYZV<T>* orbit = new SampledOrbitXYZV<T>(interpolation);
+
+    double lastSampleTime = -numeric_limits<T>::infinity();
+
+    while (in.good())
+    {
+        XYZVBinaryData data;
+
+        if (!in.read(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&data), sizeof(data)))
+            break;
+
+        double tdb = data.tdb;
+        Vec3d* position = reinterpret_cast<Vec3d*>(data.position);
+        Vec3d* velocity = reinterpret_cast<Vec3d*>(data.velocity);
+
+        // Convert velocities from km/sec to km/Julian day
+        *velocity *= astro::daysToSecs(1.0);
+
+        if (tdb != lastSampleTime)
+        {
+            orbit->addSample(tdb, *position, *velocity);
+            lastSampleTime = tdb;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return orbit;
+}
+
 
 /*! Load a trajectory file containing single precision positions.
  */
@@ -891,6 +963,10 @@ Orbit* LoadSampledTrajectoryDoublePrec(const string& filename, TrajectoryInterpo
  */
 Orbit* LoadXYZVTrajectorySinglePrec(const string& filename, TrajectoryInterpolation interpolation)
 {
+    Orbit* ret = LoadSampledOrbitXYZVBinary(filename + "bin", interpolation, 0.0f);
+    if (ret != NULL)
+        return ret;
+
     return LoadSampledOrbitXYZV(filename, interpolation, 0.0f);
 }
 
@@ -899,5 +975,9 @@ Orbit* LoadXYZVTrajectorySinglePrec(const string& filename, TrajectoryInterpolat
  */
 Orbit* LoadXYZVTrajectoryDoublePrec(const string& filename, TrajectoryInterpolation interpolation)
 {
+    Orbit* ret = LoadSampledOrbitXYZVBinary(filename + "bin", interpolation, 0.0);
+    if (ret != NULL)
+        return ret;
+
     return LoadSampledOrbitXYZV(filename, interpolation, 0.0);
 }
diff --git a/src/celengine/xyzvbinary.h b/src/celengine/xyzvbinary.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69074c0b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/celengine/xyzvbinary.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+struct XYZVBinaryHeader
+{
+    char magic[8];
+    uint16_t byteOrder;
+    uint16_t digits;
+    uint32_t reserved;
+    uint64_t count;
+};
+
+struct XYZVBinaryData
+{
+    double tdb;
+    double position[3];
+    double velocity[3];
+};
diff --git a/src/celutil/bytes.h b/src/celutil/bytes.h
index eff369dd9..4380d2e0f 100644
--- a/src/celutil/bytes.h
+++ b/src/celutil/bytes.h
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@
 
 #include <celutil/util.h>
 
+#ifndef __BYTE_ORDER__
+# ifdef _WIN32
+// FIXME: we assume that windows runs on LE hw only
+# define __BYTE_ORDER__ 1234
+# else
+# error "Unknown system or compiler"
+# endif
+#endif
+
 /* Use the system byteswap.h definitions if we have them */
 #ifdef HAVE_BYTESWAP_H
 #include <byteswap.h>
diff --git a/src/tools/xyzv2bin/xyzv2bin.pl b/src/tools/xyzv2bin/xyzv2bin.pl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32a7ba4b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tools/xyzv2bin/xyzv2bin.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl
+
+use warnings;
+use strict;
+use Config;
+use Scalar::Util qw(looks_like_number);
+
+die "Syntax: xyzv2bin.pl <infile> <outfile>\n" if($#ARGV != 1);
+
+my $MAGIC = "CELXYZV";
+my $byte_order = $Config{byteorder} == 12345678 ? 1234 : $Config{byteorder};
+my $digits = $Config{doublemantbits} + 1;
+my $reserved = 0;
+my $count = -1; # unknown
+
+open(INFILE, '<', $ARGV[0]) || die "Unable to open $ARGV[0] for reading\n";
+open(OUTFILE, '>', $ARGV[1]) || die "Unable to open $ARGV[1] for writing\n";
+binmode OUTFILE;
+
+# only byte_order is in LE order, other values are in native order
+my $header = pack "Z8vslq", ($MAGIC, $byte_order, $digits, $reserved, $count);
+print OUTFILE $header;
+
+my @values;
+my $chunk;
+my $line;
+$count = 0;
+
+outer:
+while($line = <INFILE>)
+{
+    # remove leading and terminating spaces
+    $line =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g;
+
+    # skip empty lines
+    next if length $line == 0;
+
+    # remove comments
+    my $pos = index $line, '#';
+    if ($pos > -1)
+    {
+        next if $pos == 0;
+        $line = substr $line, 0, $pos;
+    }
+
+    @values = split /\s+/, $line;
+    if ($#values != 6)
+    {
+        print "Skipping bad line: $line\n";
+        next;
+    }
+
+    while (my $v = each @values)
+    {
+        unless (looks_like_number($v))
+        {
+          print "Skipping bad line: $_\n";
+          next outer;
+        }
+    }
+
+    $chunk = pack "d7", @values;
+    print OUTFILE $chunk;
+    ++$count;
+}
+
+seek OUTFILE, 0, 0;
+
+# print the header once again to save actual number or records
+$header = pack "Z8vslq", ($MAGIC, $byte_order, $digits, $reserved, $count);
+print OUTFILE $header;
+
+close OUTFILE;
+close INFILE;