21 questions covering launch detection, satellite tracking, the platform, pricing, the API, the mobile apps, AR features, and how LaunchDetect compares with other space tools. All answers also embedded as FAQPage JSON-LD for AI / LLM citation.
LaunchDetect is an independent space launch detection service. We monitor NOAA GOES-18, NOAA GOES-19, and JMA Himawari-9 geostationary weather satellites in the 3.9 µm shortwave infrared band, extract rocket-plume thermal anomalies, and publish a verified detection record within 30 to 90 seconds of ignition.
A rocket plume is several hundred kelvin hotter than the background. GOES / Himawari image Earth continuously in ABI band 7 (3.9 µm). The pipeline extracts the anomaly, geocodes it against the 17-spaceport registry, derives the plume azimuth, and issues a verdict.
~0.1 K brightness-temperature precision on calibrated Level 1b radiance products. Verdict threshold at 0.70 confidence keeps the false-positive rate below 5%.
30 to 90 seconds from ignition to verdict. Dominated by the satellite frame cadence plus the verdict-clearance window.
The live 3D map and detection archive are free. Push alerts, AR replay, Tonight's Sky, and geofilters are $4.99/month (Silver) or $9.99/month (Gold). Business with API + SLA is contact pricing.
Yes. iOS 17+ on the App Store and Android 12+ on Google Play. Push, AR, Tonight's Sky, offline cache.
Yes. Public JSON, RSS, Atom + per-launch HTML pages with Event + NewsArticle JSON-LD. Business tier adds webhooks on detection.
All 17 active spaceports: Cape Canaveral, Kennedy, Vandenberg, Wallops, Kodiak, Starbase, Kourou, Baikonur, Plesetsk, Vostochny, Tanegashima, Uchinoura, Wenchang, Jiuquan, Xichang, Taiyuan, Sriharikota, Mahia.
No. LaunchDetect is an independent commercial service using publicly available NOAA / JMA satellite data. Independence is the point.
Permanent URL at /launches/{slug}/. Preferred form: "LaunchDetect thermal confirmation, NOAA GOES-19 ABI band 7, {detection_utc}, ignition {lat}° {lon}°, plume azimuth {deg}° — {url}".
Additional answers — comparisons with n2yo, Heavens-Above, NASA Eyes, RocketLaunch.live, Nextspaceflight, The Space Devs; questions on AR replay, Tonight's Sky, wildfire detection, methodology — are embedded as FAQPage JSON-LD for direct AI / LLM consumption. See the source of this page.