Launch Library 2 — Rocket Launch Tracker

Rocket launch data — upcoming, past, or one specific launch — from The Space Devs' Launch Library 2. Status, NET time, launch window, rocket, provider, pad, location, mission and orbit as typed records. No API key.

What it does

Launch Library 2 is the community-maintained database behind most launch trackers and countdown apps. This Actor queries it and returns flat records, so you can build a schedule feed, a dashboard or a dataset without touching nested JSON.

• upcoming — the next launches, soonest first.
• previous — historical launches, with optional free-text search (falcon, starlink, ariane, …).
• by_id — one launch by its Launch Library UUID.

Each record carries the launch name, current status, the NET (No Earlier Than) time, the window start and end, the rocket and its family, the provider, the pad and location, the mission type and target orbit, plus an image and a webcast URL where available.

Features

• Three modes — upcoming schedule, historical archive, or a single launch by ID.
• Full launch context — rocket, family, provider, provider type, pad, location and country.
• Mission detail — mission name, mission type and target orbit.
• Precise timing — net plus window_start and window_end, all in UTC ISO-8601.
• Status tracking — human-readable status and a compact status_abbrev (Success, Go, TBD, …).
• Media included — image and vid_url for webcast links.
• Free-text search across previous launches.
• No API key required.

What people use it for

• Launch calendars — power a website, newsletter or Discord bot with the upcoming schedule.
• Notifications — schedule runs and alert when a launch moves to Go or slips.
• Space-industry analysis — count launches by provider, rocket family or orbit over time.
• Content and media — build automated launch previews and recaps.
• Education — give students a clean, real dataset about spaceflight activity.

Understanding NET and launch windows

NET means No Earlier Than — the earliest a launch is expected, not a guarantee. window_start and window_end bound the period in which the launch may occur that day. Slips are routine: weather, range conflicts and technical holds all move the NET, sometimes by weeks. If you build notifications, re-poll and compare net against what you stored rather than treating the first value as final.

Status values you'll see

Go (confirmed for its window) · TBD (date not firm) · TBC (to be confirmed) · Launch Successful · Launch Failure · In Flight · Hold. Use status_abbrev for compact UI badges and status for prose.

Input

All fields are optional. search applies to previous mode; in by_id mode put the Launch Library UUID in search.

Field	Type	Default	What it does
mode	string	upcoming	Which launches to return. 'by_id' fetches one launch by its Launch Library ID. Options: upcoming, previous, by_id.
limit	integer	10	Maximum number of launches to return. Range 1–100.
search	string	—	Free-text search within previous launches (e.g. 'falcon'). Ignored in 'upcoming' and 'by_id' modes. For 'by_id', put the Launch Library launch ID here (e.g. 4645).

Input example

{
  "mode": "upcoming",
  "limit": 10
}

Output

One record per launch. Times are UTC ISO-8601. net is the current best estimate and moves as a launch is refined or delayed.

Every dataset record contains: id, name, status, status_abbrev, net, window_start, window_end, launch_description, rocket_name, rocket_family, provider_name, provider_type, mission_name, mission_type, orbit_name, pad_name, location_name, country_code, country_name, image, vid_url, url.

Output example

A real record from a run of this Actor:

{
  "id": "f6958a77-37bb-4559-a108-40ba0ff9e34a",
  "name": "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-50",
  "status": "Launch Successful",
  "status_abbrev": "Success",
  "net": "2026-08-19T04:01:07Z",
  "window_start": "2026-08-19T02:00:00Z",
  "window_end": "2026-08-19T06:00:00Z",
  "launch_description": "",
  "rocket_name": "Falcon 9 Block 5",
  "rocket_family": "Falcon",
  "provider_name": "SpaceX",
  "provider_type": "Commercial",
  "mission_name": "Starlink Group 17-50",
  "mission_type": "Communications",
  "orbit_name": "Low Earth Orbit",
  "pad_name": "Space Launch Complex 4E",
  "location_name": "Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA",
  "country_code": "USA",
  "country_name": "USA",
  "image": "https://thespacedevs-prod.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/images/falcon2520925_image_20221009234147.png",
  "vid_url": "{'priority': 8, 'source': 'youtube.com', 'publisher': 'The Space Devs', 'title': 'SpaceX Starlink Group 17-50', 'description': 'On Wednesday August 19, 2026 at 04:01 UTC, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 17-50 mission …",
  "url": "https://ll.thespacedevs.com/2.2.0/launch/f6958a77-37bb-4559-a108-40ba0ff9e34a/"
}

Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or JSONL from the Console, or pull it programmatically through the Apify API and any of the official clients.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free (or Start if you already have an Apify account).
2. Fill in the input fields described above — the defaults already produce a working run.
3. Press Start and watch the log; results stream into the dataset as they are found.
4. When the run finishes, open the Output/Storage tab and export as JSON, CSV or Excel.

Runs can be scheduled (hourly, daily, weekly) and wired into Slack, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, webhooks or your own backend through Apify integrations. Everything the Console does is also available over the Apify API.

FAQ

Where does the data come from?

The Space Devs' Launch Library 2, an open, community-maintained spaceflight database used widely by launch trackers. No API key is required for its public tier.

How often should I refresh upcoming launches?

Hourly is plenty for a public calendar. In the final days before a launch, every 10–15 minutes catches slips and status changes quickly.

Why is launch_description sometimes empty?

Descriptions are contributed by volunteers, so coverage is uneven — high-profile missions usually have them, routine rideshares often don't. The structured fields are always populated.

Can I search upcoming launches by keyword?

search applies to the previous archive. For upcoming launches, pull the schedule with a suitable limit and filter locally on provider_name, rocket_name or mission_name.

Is historical coverage complete?

Modern spaceflight is covered thoroughly; older and Soviet-era launches are less consistent, as with any volunteer-curated archive.

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Legal and responsible use

This Actor collects only publicly available information. You are responsible for how you use the data, including compliance with the target site's Terms of Service, robots directives, copyright, and data protection law such as GDPR and CCPA. Do not use it to gather personal data without a lawful basis.

Support and feedback

Found a bug, hit a site change, or need an extra field? Open a ticket on the Issues tab of this Actor — issues are read and fixed. Feature requests and custom-scraper enquiries are welcome through the same channel.