Real missions. Clear provenance. Honest uncertainty.
ORBITAL uses Launch Library 2, a curated global spaceflight database, as its primary mission schedule, rocket, agency and launch pad source. The internal provider normalizes all records into a consistent schema, validates them, preserves provenance and deduplicates by mission ID.
Last successful data fetch:Oct 4, 2026 · 20:36 UTC. The verified local snapshot is currently displayed.
Launch Library 2API documentationOrbit uses authentic CelesTrak GP/OMM JSON, propagated with satellite.js and the SGP4 model. Positions, trajectories and ground tracks are calculated predictions, not measured telemetry. Each object shows its orbital element epoch and retrieval time. A shared persistent cache enforces at least two hours between downloads for each object.
Seven featured objects are available. NORAD IDs are kept separate from Launch Library spacecraft model IDs. CelesTrak describes its resources as freely available; ORBITAL does not claim a blanket Creative Commons license. Elements older than 72 hours are flagged, and predictions are hidden after seven days.
CelesTrak data formats & usage policyMission records include official sources and external updates when provided by the database. Every task detail page exposes its own source links, source priority, confidence and update timestamp. Official NASA, ESA and launch provider updates rank ahead of database or independent references when a verified adapter supplies an explicit update.
Official websites are linked for verification. ORBITAL does not claim separate live NASA, SpaceX or ESA feeds where no integrated structured endpoint exists.
The source currently lists 470 upcoming missions and 7644 historical missions. This installation loads the first 100 upcoming and the most recent 100 historical records for responsive discovery. Full-archive counts are distinct from loaded-sample charts.
The 2026 global annual orbital totals (236 attempts; 229 confirmed successful) were queried separately on Oct 4, 2026 20:36 UTC. Annual success requires Launch Library status 3 and excludes partial successes and suborbital launches. Country, rocket, agency and orbit charts describe only the loaded recent sample.
Annual orbital attempt queryAnnual success queryORBITAL uses a shared server cache and request budget. Upcoming launches refresh every ten minutes on anonymous access; a configured token and quota allow shorter intervals. Recent history, catalog data and archive pages use longer caches. Failed updates retain the latest successful records and display their retrieval time.
Offline mode uses previously cached application resources and launch data. Device-local follows and reminders stay in your browser. Current reminders are checked while the app is open; background push delivery is not implemented.
The dashboard Earth photograph is NASA ISS image iss072e340644. The Falcon 9 reference photograph is NASA / Keegan Barber, NHQ202409270003, depicting the Crew-9 vehicle. Mission photographs and agency logos are attributed to their sources; their image licenses are independent of the API license and must be checked before commercial redistribution.
The 3D globe uses NASA Blue Marble 2002 (Reto Stöckli / Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC) and Black Marble 2016 (NASA Earth Observatory / Joshua Stevens, Suomi NPP VIIRS data). These are historical composite textures. Day/night lighting is calculated from the selected UTC time, not satellite imagery captured live.
Every relationship retains a source field. Canonical IDs connect entities without merging a spacecraft configuration, a flight instance or a NORAD object by name.
Events record observed differences, not telemetry. Provider update time, retrieval time and detection time are distinct. Historic events are not reconstructed from a single snapshot.
Engine coverage: 8 curated families or variants. Program coverage: 39 provider records. Astronaut coverage: 20 of 852 reported records.
Engine values retain units, variants and stated test conditions. Unspecified ambient conditions are not assigned to sea-level or vacuum ratings.
Observer uses SGP4 and WGS84 to predict geometric line of sight. It does not predict optical visibility, weather or brightness. Solar system positions use the NASA/JPL approximate Kepler model, valid from 1800 to 2050; Earth represents the Earth–Moon barycenter.
1957 includes 3 source records. The bundled 1969 archive includes the first 100 of 127 reported records; later pages load from the provider. Historical coverage is source dependent. Current orbital elements cannot reconstruct historical satellite positions.
Upcoming data is cached for minutes, catalogs for days and orbital elements for two hours. Source quotas may postpone refreshes. Saved views and follows remain on this device; background push delivery and cloud synchronization are not enabled.