SpaceX Satellite Tracker API

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Keep reading for more information, tips and examples for the API!

SpaceX is arguably the most successful and popular aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company in the world. One successful launch after another, there is no doubt that all eyes are on the hundreds of satellites the company has launched since 2002, when the company was founded by the one and only Elon Musk.

As the success has brought attention along with it, developers are raising an interest for real-time position data for SpaceX satellites. Apps related to tracking SpaceX satellites has intrigued not only developers or aerospace fanatics, but people from an endless list of professions, or SpaceX and Elon Musk fanatics.

This success and popularity also created a significant demand for SpaceX satellite tracker API for developers in order for them to build SpaceX tracking apps of all kinds.

Luckily, we have the fast and reliable, real-time SpaceX Satellite Tracker API you are looking for! Its very detailed data is all you need to build your SpaceX tracker app and get the profits going!

SpaceX Satellite Tracker API – How does it work?

The Aviation Edge SpaceX API is designed to provide live position data of satellites currently orbiting around the Earth. This means that the data is constantly updated, making it a perfect API especially for building live, virtual maps. Whether your audience is aerospace professionals or everyday enthusiasts, the detailed data of the SpaceX API will cover all your data needs. You can use the whole or a portion of the data in the response depending on how much details you want your app to cover.

Here is what types of data are included in the SpaceX API:

  • Country of origin
  • The designated NORAD code
  • International designator code
  • Launch date in YYY-MM-DD format
  • Launch number and part
  • Full satellite name
  • Orbital apogee, perigee and period values
  • ECI (Earth-centered inertial) coordinates
  • Altitude, latitude, longitude values
  • Classification
  • Orbit and right ascension values
  • TLE (Two-Line Element Set) 

 

Here’s an example SpaceX satellite response from the API:

				
					{
"code":44238,
"country":"US",
"intldes":"2019-029D",
"launchDate":"2019-05-24",
"launchNum":"29",
"launchPart":"D",
"launchYear":"2019",
"name":"STARLINK-24",
"orbitalApogee":"526",
"orbitalInclination":"53.00",
"orbitalPerigee":"524",
"orbitalPeriod":"95.13",
"result":
{
"ECI":
{
"posX":0.864328541,
"posY":0.646453811,
"posZ":0.0814768304,
"velX":-0.0293383982,
"velY":0.0319305522,
"velZ":0.0568622704},
"geography":
{
"alt":525.7246056033,
"lat":4.3437137883,
"lon":-121.470211618},
"satelliteInfo":
{
"classification":"U",
"idLaunchNumber":"029",
"idLaunchPiece":"D ",
"idLaunchYear":"19",
"orbit":7665,
"rightAscension":40.7404,
"satnumber":44238}
},
"size":"LARGE",
"tle1":"1 44238U 19029D 20285.79176200 .00004147 00000-0 24451-3 0 9996",
"tle2":"2 44238 52.9975 40.7404 0001663 103.9813 256.1363 15.13648592 76654",
"type":"PAYLOAD",
"updated":"1602579810"}
				
			
What is the "Two Line Element Set?

A two-line element set (TLE) is an official data format that encodes an ordered list of orbital elements of an Earth-orbiting object such as a satellite, for a certain point in time, the epoch.

The TLE data for each orbiting object is shown in the following format:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
1 NNNNNU NNNNNAAA NNNNN.NNNNNNNN +.NNNNNNNN +NNNNN-N +NNNNN-N N NNNNN
2 NNNNN NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NNNNNNN NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NN.NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Interesting? You can view a further explanation of the TLE sets here, on NASA’s website.

Starlink API – Starlink Satellite Tracker API for Developers

The above response belongs to one of the hundreds of Starlink satellites SpaceX has launched. You will have access to exact position data of the Starlink satellite internet constellation with the Starlink API. This way, you can build a satellite tracker app that focuses on Starlink satellites only for a more detail-oriented project.

The API does not only cover SpaceX satellites but all. It is possible to track all satellites available by using the “limit=” parameter with a drastically high value such as 30000. But we also have many different filters to help you pull exactly what you are looking for.

Here is a quick breakdown of all filters available for the SpaceX API:

&code=                              The designated NORAD number of the satellite
&launchYear=                    The launch year of the satellite in YYYY format
&intldes=                            International designator (NSSDC ID) number
&orbitalapogee=                 Apogee value of the current position 
&orbitalperigee=                Apogee value of the current position 

It is always possible to filter the data further on your end as well. For more tips and tricks on how to use this API and our other APIs, feel free to visit our Developers Page or contact us if you have any questions or feedback. Our team would be happy to get back to you.

Starlink fun-facts!
  • The operating system used in SpaceX satellites and rockets is Linux. Every launch of a total of 60 satellites has more than 4000 Linux computers in them!
  • Nothing keeps these satellites off orbit! Even when the satellites had a serious failure the team had never seen before, the amazing design of the satellites bought the team enough time to debug the failure while the satellite is still on orbit. Imagine the tension!
  • The SpaceX team generates more than a staggering 5 trillion bytes of data per day for Starlink. The team uses this data to detect problems and store only the portion of the data that is interesting. The alerting system they have developed using this data is then shared between Starlink and Dragon satellites.

Check out more articles or contact us if you have any questions in mind!

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