What is LaunchDetect?

LaunchDetect is an independent service that confirms space launches in real time by detecting the rocket plume's thermal infrared signature in geostationary weather-satellite imagery (NOAA GOES-18, NOAA GOES-19, and JMA Himawari-9). Detections typically post within 30 to 90 seconds of liftoff and are independent of launch-provider press releases.

How does LaunchDetect detect a rocket launch?

LaunchDetect monitors the 3.9 micron shortwave infrared band (ABI band 7) on NOAA GOES-18 and GOES-19, and the equivalent band on JMA Himawari-9. A rocket's exhaust plume is several hundred kelvin hotter than the background and produces a distinct, transient thermal anomaly directly above a known launch pad. The pipeline cross-references each anomaly against a registry of active spaceports, derives the plume azimuth from the imagery, and issues a verdict once thermal, spatial, and temporal criteria are met.

When is the next space launch?

LaunchDetect publishes a live feed of detected launches in progress and recently completed launches at https://launchdetect.com/. LaunchDetect confirms launches at the moment of ignition rather than forecasting schedules; for forward-looking launch schedules consult the operator (SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab, ISRO, JAXA, Roscosmos, CASC) or the FAA AST license calendar.

Which satellites does LaunchDetect use?

NOAA GOES-18 (GOES-West, 137.2W) covers the eastern Pacific, the US west coast, and Pacific launch corridors. NOAA GOES-19 (GOES-East, 75.2W) covers the Americas, Atlantic, and African launch corridors including Kourou. JMA Himawari-9 (140.7E) covers East Asia, Australia, and the western Pacific including Tanegashima, Wenchang, Jiuquan, and Vostochny.

Is LaunchDetect data citable as a primary source?

Yes. Each LaunchDetect detection record is grounded in a specific GOES or Himawari thermal frame at a specific UTC timestamp with ignition coordinates and plume azimuth derived from the imagery. The underlying NOAA and JMA frames are publicly archived (NOAA CLASS and JMA Open Data) and any LaunchDetect claim can be independently verified against those archives.

How accurate is LaunchDetect?

LaunchDetect operates on calibrated NOAA and JMA Level 1b radiance products with brightness-temperature precision of approximately 0.1 K. The detection pipeline uses a multi-stage thermal anomaly classifier with a confidence score on each verdict. The plume threshold is set conservatively (currently 0.70) to keep the false-positive rate below 5% on the validation set; this is the operating point recommended for analyst use.

LaunchDetect - Real-time Space Launch Streaming

LaunchDetect — Real-time space launch detection from geostationary satellites

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Operational Timeline

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The 3D globe, launch schedule and upcoming-launch timeline are open to everyone — no account needed.

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Every rocket on Earth. The moment it lifts off.

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Everything you need to stay ahead.

✓ Full historical archive — every launch we’ve seen

✓ Never miss a space launch event or satellite overhead pass

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$4.99 /mo

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See launches before the news does.

✓ Prelaunch predictions + windows

✓ Live thermal imagery + confidence

✓ Access to community features

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✓ Live launches on the globe

What’s free, what’s paid

The live 3D globe, launch schedule, and upcoming-launch timeline are always free — no account required. Silver and Gold are optional subscriptions that unlock LaunchDetect’s proprietary thermal detection data: live launch predictions, confidence scores, plume imagery, historical archive, community sightings, and AR Sky View.

Auto-renewal. Silver and Gold are auto-renewing subscriptions. Your payment method is charged at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew for the same price and term until auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.Manage or cancel anytime from your billing portal after sign-in.

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API KEYS

Manage your LaunchDetect API keys for programmatic access.

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API DOCUMENTATION

REST API reference for programmatic access to launch data products.

BASE URL

https://launchdetect.com/api/data

AUTHENTICATION

Include your API key in the x-api-key request header.

Rate limit: 100 requests/minute (Premium) | 10,000 requests/minute (Enterprise)

ENDPOINTS

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/api/data/events

List all launch events with prediction summaries

GET

/api/data/events/{id}/prediction

Get launch prediction for a specific event

GET

/api/data/events/{id}/event

Get detection result for a specific event

GET

/api/data/events/{id}/thermal

Get thermal frame inventory for an event

GET

/api/data/events/{id}/thermal/{n}

Get presigned URL for raw thermal data (NPZ)

EXAMPLE

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY" \
  https://launchdetect.com/api/data/events

RESPONSE FORMAT

{ "data": { ... }, "meta": { "requestId": "...", "generatedAt": "..." } }

Error responses: { "error": { "code": "...", "message": "..." } }