Every field, attributable.
OrbitalWiki is a provenance-first database. Every field value traces back to a specific source, recorded in our claims table with confidence levels. This page documents every data source we ingest, their licenses, and their attribution requirements.
CelesTrak
The primary source for orbital element sets (TLEs/OMMs) for all tracked objects. Operated by Dr. T.S. Kelso. Provides NORAD catalog numbers, object names, and real-time orbital parameters via the OMM JSON API.
Daily (orbital data refreshes continuously)
CelesTrak tracks ~25,000+ objects; OrbitalWiki currently ingests its ‘active’ GP group only, about 16,000 payloads
Orbital data courtesy of CelesTrak (celestrak.org), Dr. T.S. Kelso. Used under the CelesTrak Terms of Use; attribution required.
CelesTrak does not redistribute Space-Track data. All data served by CelesTrak is independently obtained and freely usable without a Space-Track account.
GCAT — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects
Jonathan McDowell's authoritative launch catalog — the most rigorous publicly available record of every object ever launched into space. Provides object classification, launch dates, decay dates, operators, country codes, and orbital regime.
Approximately weekly
GCAT's full catalog covers ~60,000+ objects ever launched; OrbitalWiki uses it to enrich existing CelesTrak records, not to add new historical or decayed rows
Data from GCAT (General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects), Jonathan C. McDowell, planet4589.org, CC-BY 4.0
Attribution is required for all uses. Display on every page that includes GCAT-sourced data.
Wikidata
Community-maintained structured knowledge base. Used for operator details, country of operator, launch mass, and mission purpose — fields not present in CelesTrak OMMs. Queried via SPARQL endpoint, joined on COSPAR ID (P247).
Monthly (cached; query with --no-cache flag to refresh)
Thousands of notable satellites — ISS, Hubble, GPS, Galileo, Starlink batches, and more
Wikidata contributors. CC0. https://www.wikidata.org
CC0 license means no attribution is legally required, but we credit Wikidata as a courtesy.
OrbitalWiki compiled database
The compiled OrbitalWiki database (the normalized, merged output of all ingestion pipelines) is released under the Open Database License (ODbL-1.0). You may use, share, and adapt this data freely, but any public use of the database — or works derived from it — must attribute OrbitalWiki and be released under the same license. Individual source attributions listed above must be preserved.
[!]What we do NOT use: Space-Track.org
Space-Track.org (operated by U.S. Space Command) restricts redistribution of its SSA data under its Terms of Service and 10 USC 2274(c)(2). OrbitalWiki does not ingest or redistribute Space-Track data until written redistribution clearance is obtained. All orbital data in OrbitalWiki routes through CelesTrak, which does not serve Space-Track data.