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Datasets:
juliensimon
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space-launch-log

Tasks:
Tabular Classification
Time Series Forecasting
Modalities:
Tabular
Text
Formats:
parquet
Languages:
English
Size:
10K - 100K
Tags:
space
launches
rockets
gcat
orbital-mechanics
open-data
Libraries:
Datasets
pandas
Polars
License:
Dataset card Data Studio Files
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Update launch log: 75,775 launches, 710 sites
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metadata 
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: Global Space Launch Log
language:
  - en
description: >-
  Every orbital launch attempt since 1957 from Jonathan McDowell's GCAT, with
  vehicles, sites, and outcomes. Updated weekly.
task_categories:
  - tabular-classification
  - time-series-forecasting
tags:
  - space
  - launches
  - rockets
  - gcat
  - orbital-mechanics
  - open-data
  - spaceflight
  - nasa
  - launch-vehicle
  - tabular-data
  - parquet
configs:
  - config_name: launches
    data_files:
      - split: train
        path: data/launches.parquet
  - config_name: sites
    data_files:
      - split: train
        path: data/sites.parquet
size_categories:
  - 10K<n<100K

Space Launch Log

Part of the Orbital Mechanics Datasets collection on Hugging Face.

Update Launch Log Updated

Complete global launch history from GCAT (General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects), maintained by Jonathan McDowell. Currently 75,775 launches (7,033 orbital, 49,514 suborbital) from 710 sites, spanning 1942–2026.

Dataset description

This dataset captures the complete record of humanity's attempts to reach space, from the first Sputnik launch in 1957 to present-day commercial missions. Every orbital and suborbital launch attempt is cataloged with its vehicle type, launch site, mission objective, operating agency, and outcome code. The companion sites table provides geographic coordinates and operational history for every launch facility worldwide, from Cape Canaveral and Baikonur to mobile sea-launch platforms.

The data originates from Jonathan McDowell's General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (GCAT), widely regarded as the most meticulous independent accounting of spaceflight activity. McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, cross-references official government records, regulatory filings, tracking data, and open-source intelligence to maintain a launch log that frequently corrects errors in official databases. GCAT distinguishes between orbital and suborbital attempts, records partial failures where payloads reached unintended orbits, and assigns standardized vehicle designations across different naming conventions.

This dataset is valuable for trend analysis in launch cadence, vehicle reliability, and the geographic distribution of spaceport activity. Researchers use it to study launch failure rates, the evolution of launch vehicle families, the emergence of new spacefaring nations, and the accelerating commercialization of orbital access. When joined with the sites table, it enables geospatial analysis of global launch infrastructure and its expansion over seven decades.

Configs

launches — 75,775 launch records

Every known launch attempt — orbital, suborbital, and failed — from 1942 to present.

Column Type Description
launch_tag string Unique GCAT launch identifier
launch_jd float Launch time as Julian Date
launch_date string Launch date (ISO-ish format)
lv_type string Launch vehicle type (e.g. "Falcon 9")
variant string Vehicle variant
flight_id string Flight identifier
flight string Flight number
mission string Mission name
flight_code string Flight code
platform string Launch platform
launch_site string Launch site code
launch_pad string Launch pad identifier
ascent_site string Ascent site (if different from launch)
ascent_pad string Ascent pad
apogee float Apogee altitude in km
apogee_flag string Apogee qualifier flag
range float Range in km
range_flag string Range qualifier flag
destination string Target orbit/destination
orbital_payload string Whether payload reached orbit
agency string Responsible agency/operator
launch_code string Launch outcome code
fail_code string Failure details (if applicable)
group string Launch group
category string O (orbital), S (suborbital), etc.
lt_cite string Launch time citation
cite string General citation
notes string Additional notes

sites — 710 launch sites

Launch facilities, pads, and test ranges worldwide.

Column Type Description
site string Site identifier
code string Short code
ucode string Unicode code
type string Site type
state_code string Country/state code
start string First operational date
stop string Last operational date
short_name string Short name
name string Full name
location string Geographic location description
longitude float Longitude (WGS-84)
latitude float Latitude (WGS-84)
error string Position error estimate
parent string Parent site (for pads within complexes)
short_ename string Short English name
ename string Full English name
group string Site group
uname string Unicode name

Quick stats

  • 75,775 launches (7,033 orbital, 49,514 suborbital)
  • 705 distinct agencies/operators
  • 710 launch sites
  • Coverage: 1942–2026

Usage 

from datasets import load_dataset

launches = load_dataset("juliensimon/space-launch-log", "launches", split="train")
sites = load_dataset("juliensimon/space-launch-log", "sites", split="train")

df = launches.to_pandas()

# Launches per year
df["year"] = df["launch_date"].str[:4]
print(df["year"].value_counts().sort_index().tail(10))

# Most-used launch vehicles
print(df["lv_type"].value_counts().head(10))

# Orbital launches only (launch_code starts with O)
orbital = df[df["launch_code"].str[0] == "O"]

# Join with site coordinates
sites_df = sites.to_pandas()
df_geo = df.merge(sites_df[["code", "latitude", "longitude"]],
                  left_on="launch_site", right_on="code", how="left")

Data source

GCAT (General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects) by Jonathan McDowell, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. GCAT is the most comprehensive public catalog of space launches and is widely used in the spaceflight research community.

Update schedule

Weekly on Mondays at 07:00 UTC via GitHub Actions.

Related datasets

Pipeline

Source code: juliensimon/space-datasets

Support

If you find this dataset useful, please give it a ❤️ on the dataset page and share feedback in the Community tab! Also consider giving a ⭐️ to the space-datasets repo.

Citation 

@dataset{space_launch_log,
  author = {Simon, Julien},
  title = {Space Launch Log},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-launch-log},
  note = {Based on GCAT (General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects) by Jonathan McDowell, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics}
}

License

CC-BY-4.0