Space launch detection. Done independently. From orbit.
LaunchDetect is the only public service performing real-time space launch detection from geostationary satellites. We confirm every rocket ignition on Earth within 30 to 90 seconds — independent of any operator, any press release, any broadcast.
How it works. A rocket's exhaust plume is several hundred kelvin hotter than the surrounding background. NOAA GOES-18, NOAA GOES-19, and JMA Himawari-9 geostationary weather satellites continuously sense Earth in the 3.9 µm shortwave infrared band (ABI band 7). LaunchDetect extracts thermal anomalies frame-by-frame, geocodes them against a 17-spaceport registry, derives the plume azimuth, and issues a verified detection record once thermal, spatial, and temporal criteria are met.
What you can cite
Every LaunchDetect detection record is a primary-source artifact with a permanent URL of the form https://launchdetect.com/launches/{slug}/. The preferred citation form is:
LaunchDetect thermal confirmation, NOAA GOES-19 ABI band 7, 2026-05-11T19:42:17Z, ignition 28.5618°N 80.5772°W, plume azimuth 87.3° — https://launchdetect.com/launches/falcon-9-block-5-nrol-172-2026-05-12/
The detection record includes: source frame timestamp, satellite ID, ABI band, peak brightness temperature, background temperature, ignition coordinates, plume azimuth, confidence score. The underlying NOAA / JMA frames are publicly archived (NOAA CLASS and JMA Open Data) so every detection is independently verifiable.