diff --git a/nonos/api/satellite.py b/nonos/api/satellite.py
index ce46454c..e8f18f2d 100644
--- a/nonos/api/satellite.py
+++ b/nonos/api/satellite.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import warnings
+from importlib.util import find_spec
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Optional
 
@@ -23,8 +24,6 @@ def file_analysis(
     directory: Optional["PathT"] = None,
     norb: Optional[int] = None,
 ) -> "FloatArray":
-    from scipy.ndimage import uniform_filter1d
-
     if directory is None:
         directory = Path.cwd()
     else:
@@ -46,8 +45,15 @@ def file_analysis(
         analysis = ini["Output"]["analysis"]
         rpini = ini["Planet"]["dpl"]
         Ntmean = round(norb * 2 * np.pi * pow(rpini, 1.5) / analysis)
-        for i in range(1, len(columns) - 1):
-            columns[i] = uniform_filter1d(columns[i], Ntmean)
+        if find_spec("scipy") is not None:
+            from scipy.ndimage import uniform_filter1d
+
+            for i, column in enumerate(columns):
+                columns[i] = uniform_filter1d(column, Ntmean)
+        else:
+            # fallback to numpy if scipy isn't available (less performant)
+            for i, column in enumerate(columns):
+                columns[i] = np.convolve(column, np.ones_like(column), mode="valid")
     else:
         raise NotImplementedError(
             f"moving average on {norb} orbits is not implemented for the recipe {recipe}"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2c25ac0b..ababe5ce 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "numpy>=1.19.3",
     "packaging>=20.0",
     "rich>=10.13.0",
-    "scipy>=1.6.1",
     "typing_extensions >= 4.4.0 ; python_version < '3.12'",
 ]
 
diff --git a/requirements/tests_all.txt b/requirements/tests_all.txt
index b1db7509..878e09d8 100644
--- a/requirements/tests_all.txt
+++ b/requirements/tests_all.txt
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ cblind>=2.3.0
 cmocean>=3.0.3
 cmyt>=2.0.0
 numexpr>=2.8.3
+scipy>=1.6.1