Satellite Tracking Track any satellite in Earth orbit with real-time position data, orbital parameters, and historical trajectories.
Overview The Satellite Tracking API provides:
Real-time positions — Current lat/lon/altitude for any tracked objectOrbital parameters — Keplerian elements, period, inclinationPropagation — Future position predictionsHistorical data — Past trajectory archive
Catalog Coverage Category Count Sources Active satellites 10,000+ Space-Track, commercial Debris objects 35,000+ Space-Track Total tracked 45,000+ Multiple sources
Quick Start from rotastellar import RotaStellarClient client = RotaStellarClient( api_key = "rs_..." ) # Get satellite by NORAD ID iss = client.get_satellite( "25544" ) # ISS # Current position print ( f "Location: { iss.position.latitude } , { iss.position.longitude } " ) print ( f "Altitude: { iss.position.altitude_km } km" ) # Orbital parameters print ( f "Period: { iss.orbit.orbital_period_minutes } minutes" ) print ( f "Inclination: { iss.orbit.inclination_deg } deg" )
Get Satellite Retrieve information about a specific satellite.
GET /v1/satellites/{satellite_id}
NORAD catalog ID or common name (e.g., “25544” or “ISS”)
Response { "id" : "25544" , "name" : "ISS (ZARYA)" , "names" : [ "ISS" , "ZARYA" , "INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION" ], "type" : "PAYLOAD" , "operator" : "NASA/Roscosmos" , "launch_date" : "1998-11-20" , "position" : { "lat" : 41.264 , "lon" : -95.123 , "altitude_km" : 420.5 , "velocity_km_s" : 7.66 , "timestamp" : "2026-01-21T12:00:00Z" }, "orbit" : { "period_min" : 92.9 , "inclination_deg" : 51.64 , "apogee_km" : 422 , "perigee_km" : 418 , "eccentricity" : 0.0002 } }
List Satellites Query the satellite catalog with filters.
Filter by object type: PAYLOAD, ROCKET_BODY, DEBRIS
Filter by operator (e.g., “SpaceX”, “OneWeb”)
Filter by constellation (e.g., “Starlink”, “OneWeb”)
Pagination cursor for next page
Example: List Starlink Satellites starlinks = client.list_satellites( constellation = "Starlink" , limit = 100 ) for sat in starlinks: print ( f " { sat.name } : { sat.position.altitude_km } km" )
Get Position Get current or predicted position.
GET /v1/satellites/{satellite_id}/position
ISO 8601 timestamp for prediction (default: now)
Example: Predict Future Position from datetime import datetime, timedelta # Where will ISS be in 2 hours? future = (datetime.utcnow() + timedelta( hours = 2 )).isoformat() pos = client.get_satellite_position( "25544" , at = future) print ( f "Predicted: { pos.latitude } , { pos.longitude } " )
Get Trajectory Get position history or predictions over a time range.
GET /v1/satellites/{satellite_id}/trajectory
Time between points in seconds
Example: Get 24-hour Trajectory from datetime import datetime, timedelta trajectory = client.get_trajectory( satellite_id = "25544" , start = datetime.utcnow().isoformat(), end = (datetime.utcnow() + timedelta( hours = 24 )).isoformat(), interval_sec = 300 # Every 5 minutes ) for point in trajectory: print ( f " { point[ 'timestamp' ] } : { point[ 'lat' ] } , { point[ 'lon' ] } " )
Position Object { "lat" : 41.264 , "lon" : -95.123 , "altitude_km" : 420.5 , "velocity_km_s" : 7.66 , "timestamp" : "2026-01-21T12:00:00Z" }
Orbit Object { "epoch" : "2026-01-21T00:00:00Z" , "period_min" : 92.9 , "inclination_deg" : 51.64 , "raan_deg" : 123.45 , "arg_perigee_deg" : 234.56 , "eccentricity" : 0.0002 , "mean_anomaly_deg" : 45.67 , "apogee_km" : 422 , "perigee_km" : 418 }
Rate Limits Endpoint Free Pro Enterprise Get Satellite 10/min 100/min Custom List Satellites 5/min 50/min Custom Get Trajectory 2/min 20/min Custom
Next Steps
Conjunction Analysis Analyze collision risks between objects
Pattern Detection Detect anomalies in satellite behavior
