# Launches and the satellites they carried, 1957 to 2026

Version 2026-10-06. 7,633 launches from 1957-10-04 to 2026-10-02, and 27,900 payloads, every one linked to the launch that carried it.

Made by McVal for [Every launch since Sputnik](https://mcval.org/launches/), a 3D globe of the same data. Licensed [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): use it for anything, with credit (see Citing).

## How the links are made

Each payload in CelesTrak's satellite catalogue has a COSPAR id (1997-061A for Cassini), whose first part (1997-061) is the launch. Launch Library 2 records that launch number for each launch that reached orbit. The two are joined on it, so a link needs no matching by date or place. Launches that left nothing in orbit, such as failures and suborbital flights, have no COSPAR launch number and no payloads.

Who uses each satellite (defence, civil government, commercial, academic) and who runs it come from Jonathan McDowell's General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (GCAT). A satellite counts as defence if any of its operators is military; otherwise it takes the class of its first operator. `operator_group` rolls the operator up GCAT's parent chain to its top organisation (NASA Goddard to NASA), with a few GCAT keeps apart merged by hand.

## launches.csv

| Column | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| launch_id | Launch Library 2's id for the launch |
| date_utc | Liftoff, UTC, to the minute |
| cospar_launch | COSPAR launch number (year-number); empty if nothing reached orbit |
| rocket | Rocket, as Launch Library 2 names it |
| provider | Who launched it |
| provider_type | government or commercial |
| site, site_country, pad | Where it launched from |
| outcome | success, failure or partial failure |
| mission, mission_type, orbit | As Launch Library 2 records them |
| payloads_catalogued | Payloads in CelesTrak's catalogue from this launch |
| wikipedia | English Wikipedia article about the flight or its main payload, through Wikidata, where there is one |
| webcast | The launch's webcast or film, checked when built, where there is one |

## satellites.csv

| Column | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| norad_id | Catalogue number (NORAD) |
| cospar_id | International designator |
| name | Catalogue name |
| launch_date, decay_date | From the catalogue; decay_date empty while it is still up |
| launch_id, cospar_launch, rocket, launch_provider | The launch that carried it (launches.csv) |
| user | defence, civil government, commercial, academic or unknown (GCAT) |
| operator | Who runs it (GCAT) |
| operator_group | The operator's top organisation (see above) |
| registered_to | CelesTrak's owner code: the country or organisation it is registered to |
| orbit_centre | EA for Earth orbit; a station's catalogue number when docked; otherwise where it went (MO Moon, SU solar orbit, MA Mars, and so on) |
| orbit_withheld | yes where CelesTrak has no elements available: the US publishes no orbit for it |
| period_min, inclination_deg, apogee_km, perigee_km | Its orbit, from the catalogue |

## Sources

- Launches: [Launch Library 2](https://thespacedevs.com/llapi) by The Space Devs.
- Satellites: [CelesTrak's satellite catalogue](https://celestrak.org/satcat/) (SATCAT).
- Users and operators: [GCAT](https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/), the General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects by Jonathan McDowell, CC-BY.
- Wikipedia articles: matched through [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org).

## Citing

Osborne, M. (2026). Launches and the satellites they carried, 1957 to 2026 (Version 2026-10-06) [Dataset]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23184904

Built from Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs), CelesTrak, and GCAT by Jonathan McDowell (CC-BY). The DOI above always resolves to the newest version; this version is https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23184905.