From the first beep in 1957 to 10,000+ active satellites orbiting Earth today
The two-stage workhorse of the modern space industry. First orbital-class rocket with a reusable booster (2015) and the most-flown rocket in history. Carries Starlink, Dragon, NRO and commercial payloads from Florida and California.
Three Falcon 9 cores strapped together. Currently the most powerful operational rocket (until Starship is fully operational). Used for heavy GTO comsats, NRO missions and NASA's Psyche probe. Famously launched Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster on its 2018 demo flight.
The fully reusable two-stage super-heavy designed for Mars colonisation, Starlink V2, Artemis HLS lunar landing, and point-to-point Earth transport. 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster generate ~7,590 t of thrust — the most powerful rocket ever built.
Small-sat dedicated launcher with carbon-composite tanks and 9 electric-pump-fed Rutherford engines. Launches from Mahia, New Zealand and Wallops, Virginia. Pioneered orbital small-sat launches and helicopter booster recovery.
Rocket Lab's medium-lift, fully reusable competitor to Falcon 9. Carbon-composite "Hungry Hippo" fairing stays attached to the booster, returning to launch pad. Uses 9 Archimedes methalox engines on the first stage.
Europe's heavy-lift expendable launcher and successor to the legendary Ariane 5. Two variants: A62 (two boosters) and A64 (four boosters) for GTO comsats and Galileo. Launches exclusively from Kourou, French Guiana — close to the equator for maximum eastward boost.
United Launch Alliance's replacement for Atlas V and Delta IV. Uses Blue Origin BE-4 methalox engines on the first stage and the workhorse Centaur upper stage. Launches DoD payloads, Amazon Project Kuiper, and Sierra Space Dream Chaser.
A 100%-success-rate workhorse approaching retirement after Vulcan takes over its remaining manifest. RD-180 first stage (Russian) plus Centaur upper stage. Has flown Mars Curiosity, Perseverance, Juno, New Horizons, Boeing Starliner crew missions.
Blue Origin's heavy-lift partially reusable orbital rocket — named for John Glenn. Seven BE-4 methalox engines on the reusable first stage, two BE-3U on the upper stage. Targeting Project Kuiper, Mars science, and lunar landers.
China's flagship heavy-lift cryogenic rocket — used for the Tianwen Mars probe, Chang'e lunar sample-return missions, and Tiangong space station core modules. Launches from Wenchang on the southern island of Hainan.
Japan's H-IIA replacement, built around the new LE-9 hydrolox first-stage engine. Designed for cost-down operations to compete with Falcon 9. Launches from Tanegashima Space Center.
A digital-control evolution of the R-7 family — direct lineage to the rocket that launched Sputnik 1 in 1957. Still flying crew to the ISS (in Soyuz-MS configuration), GLONASS satellites, and government payloads from Baikonur, Plesetsk, and Vostochny.
Russia's modern modular launch family designed to replace Proton-M and reduce reliance on Baikonur (which is leased from Kazakhstan). Five URM-1 cores plus a URM-2 second stage. Launches from Plesetsk and Vostochny.
India's heaviest operational launcher — carried Chandrayaan-3 to a successful lunar south-pole landing in 2023 and is the planned vehicle for the Gaganyaan crewed programme. Launches from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota.
Florida's busiest launch range, operated by the U.S. Space Force. SLC-40 (SpaceX), SLC-41 (ULA Atlas V / Vulcan), SLC-37 (Delta IV / Starship East). Equatorial enough for efficient GTO insertion; over-water dogleg for ISS-inclination launches.
The Apollo-era pad that launched Apollo 11 and the Space Shuttle, now leased by SpaceX. Site of every Falcon Heavy launch and most Crew Dragon flights to the ISS. Adjacent LC-39B is reserved for NASA SLS.
SpaceX's privately-owned Starship development and launch site at the southern tip of Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Home to the Orbital Launch Mount, integration tower with mechazilla chopsticks, and Massey's static-fire stand.
Western U.S. launch site for polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. Falcon 9 SLC-4E, ULA Vulcan SLC-3, Atlas V SLC-3 retiring. Most Earth observation, NRO, and SSO Starlink shells launch from here, southward over open Pacific.
Europe's spaceport at just 5° from the equator — the closest major spaceport to the equator, offering a substantial free velocity boost for GTO. Ariane 6, Vega-C, and (formerly) Soyuz launches. Operated by CNES on behalf of ESA.
The world's first and largest spaceport, leased by Russia from Kazakhstan until 2050. Site of Sputnik 1 (1957), Yuri Gagarin's flight (1961), and every Soviet/Russian crewed launch to the ISS. Soyuz-2, Proton-M (retiring), and Zenit historically.
China's southernmost launch site, on Hainan island. Built specifically for the cryogenic Long March 5 / 7 family because the spent stages can fall safely over the South China Sea instead of mainland villages. Used for Tianwen Mars, Chang'e lunar, Tianzhou cargo, and Tiangong station modules.
Rocket Lab's privately-owned licensed orbital launch site in the southern hemisphere — the first commercial orbital site in the southern hemisphere. Two pads (LC-1A, LC-1B) for Electron. Wide southern azimuth for high-inclination and SSO missions.
NASA Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Hosts Antares (Northrop Grumman) Cygnus cargo runs to ISS, Rocket Lab Electron LC-2, and many sounding-rocket science missions.
JAXA's primary launch site on a small island south of Kyushu. "The most beautiful launch site in the world" per JAXA's own marketing. Home of the H-IIA / H3 family, the HTV cargo vehicle, and Japan's planetary missions.
The single most-launched rocket company in history. Pioneered orbital booster reuse (2015), human commercial spaceflight (Crew Dragon, 2020), and the largest satellite constellation (Starlink, 6,000+). Now developing Starship for Mars.
The U.S. civil space agency. Buys most launch services commercially today (SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab) but operates SLS in-house for Artemis lunar missions, develops planetary science probes, and runs the ISS in partnership with Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA.
A Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, the U.S. military's primary launch provider until SpaceX certification. Atlas V is phasing out; Vulcan Centaur is the current heavy-lift workhorse. Famously perfect launch record on Atlas V.
Pioneer of dedicated small-sat orbital launch. Electron flies from New Zealand and Virginia. Building Neutron medium-lift to compete with Falcon 9, plus a growing space-systems business including the Photon spacecraft bus.
Europe's commercial launch provider — the world's first commercial space transportation company. Operates Ariane 6 and Vega-C from Kourou. Historically dominant in GTO comsat launches; now contending with SpaceX dominance.
Known for the New Shepard suborbital tourist vehicle (West Texas). New Glenn is the orbital heavy-lift launcher (first flight 2025). Builds the BE-4 engines that power both New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan, plus Blue Moon lunar landers for Artemis.
The Indian Space Research Organisation. Operates LVM3 (heavy-lift), GSLV (medium), PSLV (medium-light), and SSLV (small-sat). Notable missions: Mangalyaan to Mars (2014, first-attempt success), Chandrayaan-3 lunar south-pole landing (2023).
Russia's state space corporation, successor to the Soviet space program. Still operates Soyuz crew launches to the ISS, Progress cargo, GLONASS navigation, and Angara A5 from Plesetsk and Vostochny. Lineage runs unbroken from Sputnik 1.
China's civil and commercial space programme. Operates the Long March family (CASC), the Tiangong space station, Shenzhou crewed flights, Tianwen Mars probe, and Chang'e lunar sample-return missions. Currently the second-most-active launch nation by cadence.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Operates the H3 launcher (with MHI), the SLIM lunar lander (2024 precision touchdown), the Hayabusa asteroid sample-return missions, and the HTV/HTV-X cargo vehicle for ISS resupply.
Use the live tracker above (or any launch tracker pulling The Space Devs API) to find the next launch from the agency or rocket you care about. Note the launch provider, vehicle, payload, and pad. Confirm the status is Go — anything marked TBD or Hold is likely to slip.
Launch schedules are published in NET (No Earlier Than) UTC. The countdowns above run in your browser's local time so the conversion is automatic. Plan to arrive at least 60 minutes before T-0 in case the operator opens the window early.
For Cape Canaveral / Kennedy: Jetty Park, Playalinda Beach, or Space View Park in Titusville. For SpaceX Starbase: South Padre Island. For Vandenberg: Surf Beach and the 13th Street pier. For Kourou: the Carapa observation site. Bring binoculars; the rocket is small until liftoff.
Daytime: sunscreen, water, hat. Night launch: layers, blanket, folding chair. Either way, bring a phone or radio tuned to the operator's livestream so you hear the countdown — there is no audible voice from the pad. Avoid pointing flash photography at the launch tower; phone cameras under-expose at distance, so adjust manually.
For Falcon 9 RTLS missions (return-to-launch-site), about 8 minutes after liftoff you will hear three distinct sonic booms as the booster decelerates back through your local airspace. For drone-ship landings out at sea you won't hear the booms but the operator's livestream covers the touchdown live.
For Starlink missions, the satellites are deployed in a tight train and remain visible to the naked eye for ~1–2 weeks. Use a sky-tracking app (Heavens-Above, Stellarium) for pass times over your location — best ~45 minutes after sunset, when satellites are sunlit but you are in shadow. If you can't see in person, every major operator streams launches live on YouTube starting ~20 minutes before T-0.
Live launch schedule: upcoming launches and per-launch metadata come directly from The Space Devs Launch Library 2 API — a free, community-maintained, open spaceflight database. Data is fetched fresh every 5 minutes, with countdowns ticking client-side every second.
Space debris growth: historical tracked-object counts come from the ESA Space Debris Office, with current totals from the U.S. Space Surveillance Network catalogue.
Vehicle, site & provider specs: compiled from operator press kits, launch user guides, FCC/FAA filings, and ESA/NASA mission documents. Specs are kept up to date for current variants; older variants may diverge.
Independent project: this dashboard is an unofficial, independent visualisation built by Jasper Bernaers. It is not affiliated with NASA, JPL, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, Roscosmos, CNSA, SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab, Blue Origin, Arianespace, or The Space Devs. No data is collected from visitors beyond Google Analytics page-view counting. No ads.
This free satellite launch tracker displays real-time upcoming rocket launches from around the world, powered by The Space Devs Launch Library 2 API — a community-maintained, open-source spaceflight database. Every launch listing includes the mission name, launch provider, rocket vehicle, launch pad location, mission type, target orbit, and a live countdown timer that ticks down to the second. The data covers all major launch providers including SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Arianespace, United Launch Alliance, ISRO, CNSA, Roscosmos, and emerging companies like Relativity Space and Isar Aerospace.
Launch status indicators show whether a mission is confirmed (Go), tentatively scheduled (TBC/TBD), on hold, or already successfully launched. The tracker fetches fresh data from the API every five minutes, so you always see the latest schedule changes, delays, and scrubs. Whether you want to know when the next Starlink launch is, track a crewed Dragon mission to the ISS, or follow an Ariane 6 flight from Kourou, this dashboard has you covered.
Beyond live launch tracking, this tool includes a comprehensive space history timeline covering every major milestone from the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 to the era of mega-constellations and reusable rockets. The interactive Sputnik tab features a rotating orbital animation, detailed technical specifications of the first satellite, and the full story of the Sputnik Crisis — including America's humiliating Vanguard TV3 failure, the rushed Explorer 1 success, and how one beeping sphere ultimately led to the creation of both NASA and DARPA (which later invented the internet).
The orbital belts visualisation shows satellites moving in real-time across Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geostationary Orbit (GEO), with speed comparisons and an explanation of why GEO sits at exactly 35,786 kilometres. The space debris chart tracks the growth of tracked orbital objects from 200 in 1965 to over 36,000 today, with spikes from the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test and the 2009 Iridium-Cosmos collision clearly visible. Twelve mind-blowing space facts cover everything from GPS satellites carrying nuclear detonation detectors to the world's first wooden satellite.
This satellite launch tracker is completely free with no signup, no advertisements, and no data collection. It runs entirely in your browser using public APIs. Whether you are a space enthusiast following every Falcon 9 booster landing, a student learning about orbital mechanics, a journalist covering the commercial space industry, or just curious about what is launching next, this tool delivers professional-grade launch data in a beautiful, accessible format. It is one of over 50 free browser-based tools available at jasperbernaers.com.
Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It was a polished 58 cm aluminium sphere weighing 83.6 kg, carrying only a radio transmitter that emitted a "beep" signal. It orbited Earth every 96.2 minutes at an inclination of 65.1°. The batteries lasted 22 days, and the satellite burned up on re-entry on January 4, 1958, after completing 1,440 orbits.
As of early 2026, approximately 10,000–11,000 active satellites orbit Earth, with SpaceX's Starlink constellation alone accounting for over 6,000. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks about 36,000+ objects larger than 10 cm (including debris). Estimates suggest there are 130 million+ debris fragments between 1 mm and 10 cm that are too small to track but still dangerous.
Proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978, the Kessler Syndrome describes a theoretical cascade effect where collisions between orbital objects create debris that causes further collisions, eventually making certain orbital altitudes unusable. The 2009 Iridium-Cosmos collision and 2021 Russian ASAT test have accelerated debris growth in LEO. Current models suggest that even without any new launches, existing debris will continue to self-generate through collisions for centuries.
LEO (160–2,000 km): Earth observation, communications constellations (Starlink), ISS, spy satellites. Orbital period: 90–127 minutes. MEO (2,000–35,786 km): Navigation systems (GPS at 20,200 km, Galileo at 23,222 km). GEO (35,786 km): TV broadcast, weather monitoring, military comms. Satellite appears stationary. HEO (highly elliptical): Molniya orbits for high-latitude coverage (Russia), Tundra orbits for signals intelligence. SSO (Sun-synchronous): Polar orbits that pass over the same area at the same local time daily — ideal for imaging.
Orbital velocity depends on altitude. In low Earth orbit (~400 km), satellites travel at approximately 7.66 km/s (27,576 km/h) — that's about 22 times the speed of a bullet. The ISS covers a distance equal to a round trip to the Moon every day. At GEO altitude (35,786 km), speed drops to 3.07 km/s because gravity weakens with distance. To escape Earth entirely, you need 11.2 km/s (escape velocity).
Earth's rotational speed is highest at the equator (~465 m/s or ~1,674 km/h). Launching eastward from the equator gives rockets a free speed boost, reducing the fuel needed to reach orbital velocity. This is why Europe launches from Kourou, French Guiana (5°N) rather than from mainland France. The exception is polar orbits (like Sun-synchronous), which launch north/south and don't benefit from Earth's rotation — these use sites like Vandenberg (California) or Plesetsk (Russia).
Guidelines require LEO satellites to deorbit within 25 years (the FCC shortened this to 5 years in 2022). LEO satellites use remaining fuel to lower their orbit until atmospheric drag pulls them down; most burn up on re-entry. GEO satellites boost 300+ km higher into a "graveyard orbit" since deorbiting from 36,000 km is impractical. Uncontrolled re-entries can drop debris on land — NASA's Skylab hit Australia in 1979. Controlled deorbits target the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (Point Nemo), where 260+ spacecraft have been intentionally crashed.
SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 charges approximately $2,720 per kg to LEO — down from $54,500/kg on the Space Shuttle. A full Falcon 9 rideshare launch costs from $1M for a small satellite. Rocket Lab's Electron offers dedicated small-sat launches for ~$7.5M. SpaceX's Starship aims to bring costs below $100/kg, potentially under $10/kg at full reusability — cheaper than air freight. In 1970, launch costs were $100,000+/kg in today's dollars.
Yes. The ISS is the brightest artificial object in the sky (magnitude -6, brighter than Venus) and is easily visible as a fast-moving "star" crossing the sky in 3–5 minutes. Starlink satellites are visible as "trains" shortly after launch, appearing as a line of bright dots. Iridium satellites used to produce famous "Iridium flares" — brief, brilliant flashes up to magnitude -8 as their antenna panels caught sunlight. On any clear night, you can typically spot 5–10 satellites per hour with the naked eye.
Yes, completely free. No account, no subscription, no tracking beyond basic analytics. Upcoming launch data comes live from The Space Devs Launch Library 2 API (thespacedevs.com) — a community-maintained, free, open-source spaceflight API. Launch countdowns, mission details, vehicle info, and pad locations are all real data. This is one of the free browser-based tools at jasperbernaers.com.