Learn space GIS, week by week.

A free 30-week course that takes you from no GIS background to expert-level production-grade space-domain GIS. Five certification tracks, five hands-on capstones, taught with real satellite imagery — built with Hawaiʻi and the Pacific in mind.

Start here — 30-minute orientation → Full syllabus
Built by a production space-GIS company, designed for place-based learning. Every concept is grounded in a real space-domain application; every dataset is real satellite data (NOAA GOES-18 is the satellite stationed south of Hawaiʻi); every week opens with a place-based question and closes with reflection. The same methodology powers LaunchDetect's live launch-detection pipeline at launchdetect.com.

Why a curriculum from Hawaiʻi for the Pacific

Pacific wayfinders mapped the ocean by stars and swells for thousands of years before GPS existed. Mauna Kea hosts world-class telescopes. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory tracks Kīlauea eruptions with the same thermal infrared bands LaunchDetect uses for rocket plumes. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center protects 50+ nations from ʻEwa Beach. PacIOOS at UH Mānoa publishes Pacific ocean data via open APIs. Pacific Disaster Center on Maui serves geospatial alerts to 90+ countries.

This is a space-GIS curriculum that names where it comes from. Every week's "Connecting to Hawaiʻi" sidebar ties the technical concept to local ʻāina, institutions, and tradition. The math is universal; the place gives it meaning.

Free for classroom use. Built to be remixed, taught, and improved by the communities that need it.

The 5 certification tracks

Track 1 · Beginner

Ground Station Operator

Weeks 1–4 · 4 weeks · Capstone 1

Foundations of geographic information systems applied to space. By the end you can load, project, and visualize coordinate data, plot every active orbital launch pad on Earth, and reason about coordin…

 Track 2 · Intermediate

Orbital Analyst

Weeks 5–10 · 6 weeks · Capstone 2

Spatial analysis and orbital mechanics intertwined. Learn PostGIS for spatial SQL, then layer in two-line element sets, SGP4 propagation, and ground-track geometry to answer questions like 'which spac…

 Track 3 · Intermediate

Remote Sensing Specialist

Weeks 11–15 · 5 weeks · Capstone 3

Satellite imagery from sensor physics to plume detection. Learn the electromagnetic spectrum, optical/IR/SAR sensor types, and the GOES-R ABI band suite. The capstone is a working thermal plume detect…

 Track 4 · Advanced

Mission GIS Engineer

Weeks 16–20 · 5 weeks · Capstone 4

Move GIS off the desktop and into the browser, real-time, and 3D. Build vector tile pipelines, deliver maps via Leaflet/MapLibre/OpenLayers, draw orbits on a CesiumJS globe, and stream live satellite …

 Track 5 · Expert

Space GIS Architect

Weeks 21–30 · 10 weeks · Capstone 5

Production-grade space GIS. Multi-sensor satellite fusion across GOES-East / GOES-West / Himawari-9, ML object detection in raster, SAR interferometry, cloud-native COG/Zarr/STAC formats, end-to-end A…
Start here → Or jump into Track 1
Certificates. The entire curriculum (primers, quizzes, labs) is free and public. Each of the 5 tracks ends in a capstone whose successful completion mints a verifiable certificate at /academy/verify/{certId}/. Certificate issuance is included with LaunchDetect Gold ($9.99/month) — and is free with a verified school email (see below).

Free for universities

LaunchDetect Academy for Universities gives students, faculty and researchers the operational LaunchDetect platform at no cost — the same platform that publishes launch detections to the Unified Data Library for operators — so the next generation of space-domain professionals learns on the real thing.

Create your Academy account with a .edu email → Bring it to your classroom

How it works

Frequently asked questions

What is LaunchDetect Academy?
LaunchDetect Academy is a free 30-week online course in space-domain geographic information systems (GIS). The curriculum takes a learner from no GIS background to expert-level production-grade space GIS over 5 certification tracks, each anchored by a hands-on capstone using real geostationary thermal satellite imagery, real two-line element sets (TLEs), and real spaceport data.
How much does the course cost?
The entire 30-week curriculum is free and publicly available. Each week's primer, quiz, and hands-on lab notebook is open and downloadable. Certificate issuance (verifiable credential URLs at launchdetect.com/academy/verify/{certId}/) is gated to the LaunchDetect Gold tier at $9.99/month — free for anyone who signs up with a verified .edu school email (Academy for Universities).
I'm a student or professor — is it really free?
Yes. Create a LaunchDetect account with your .edu school email and you receive Gold-level access — certificates, the live globe, predictions, thermal imagery, archive and webhooks — at no cost for 12 months at a time. Confirm the same school email again each year to keep it. No access code and no card are required; you attest to educational, non-commercial use and to U.S.-person status at signup.
What background do I need to start?
No GIS background. The first track (Ground Station Operator, weeks 1–4) assumes only that you are comfortable with basic computing tasks (opening files, installing software). Some Python helps but is not required for Track 1. By Track 2 you should be comfortable with basic Python, and by Track 4 with basic web development (HTML, JavaScript). Each track lists its prerequisites on the cert track page.
How are the labs delivered?
Each week has a downloadable Jupyter notebook on GitHub (github.com/launchdetect/academy-labs) plus a one-click 'Open in Colab' button that runs the notebook in Google Colab with the data pre-loaded. You can also clone the repo and run locally with Python 3.11+.
How long does the full course take?
Self-paced. The course is structured as 30 weeks, with each week's content (primer + quiz + lab) taking roughly 3–6 hours. The capstones at weeks 4, 10, 15, 20, and 30 take longer (8–20 hours each depending on the track).
What are the 5 certifications?
Ground Station Operator (after week 4 capstone), Orbital Analyst (after week 10), Remote Sensing Specialist (after week 15), Mission GIS Engineer (after week 20), and Space GIS Architect (after week 30). Each is a separate verifiable certificate.
Why is this course space-themed?
LaunchDetect is a real production space-GIS platform that detects rocket launches from geostationary thermal imagery (NOAA GOES-18, GOES-19, JMA Himawari-9). The course is the educational counterpart: every concept is grounded in a real space-domain application, every dataset is real satellite data, and every capstone produces something deployable. This makes the GIS skills directly applicable to the most rapidly growing application of geospatial work.
Do I get a certificate that employers recognize?
The certificate has a public verifiable URL at launchdetect.com/academy/verify/{certId}/, so anyone (recruiters, employers) can independently verify the credential. The course is developed by LaunchDetect (a real production space-GIS company) and aligns with industry-standard tools (QGIS, PostGIS, CesiumJS, Python, AWS).
What if I'm already a GIS professional?
Skip ahead. Each track page lists prerequisites and outcomes — start at the track where the outcomes are new to you. Track 3 (Remote Sensing Specialist) and Track 5 (Space GIS Architect) cover specialized domains (satellite imagery, multi-sensor fusion, ML for raster, SAR, cloud-native formats) that few traditional GIS programs cover.
Can I contribute or correct content?
Yes. The academy-labs repository (github.com/launchdetect/academy-labs) accepts pull requests for lab corrections, additional exercises, and translations. Curriculum-level changes can be requested via GitHub issues.
View the full syllabus