ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper

ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper

Scrape the live position of the International Space Station and other satellites, up to a million snapshots per run. Each record returns latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, footprint, and a UTC timestamp. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Tracking the ISS usually means opening a dedicated map or a NASA feed that is not built for bulk data collection. This Actor reads the public live position API directly, captures one or many snapshots for the International Space Station, and returns each reading in a flat, consistent row. No API key, no authentication, and no manual polling.

Who uses it	What they scrape ISS & Satellite Live Position for
STEM educators	Capture real-time ISS coordinates to build classroom orbit-tracking exercises.
Space enthusiasts	Log the ISS flight path over time to visualize its ground track.
Data journalists	Pull live ISS position data to illustrate stories about space missions or overflight events.
App developers	Feed a live satellite position into a dashboard or notification system.

What it does

This Actor collects live position snapshots for the International Space Station and returns each one as a flat row with coordinates, altitude, velocity, and a timestamp.

• 🛰️ Single snapshot: get one instant reading of latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, and footprint.
• 📡 Flight path streaming: capture up to 1000 snapshots per satellite with a configurable delay to map an orbit track.
• 📏 Unit selection: output altitude in kilometers or miles, velocity in km/h or mph, and footprint in the matching unit.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with ISS & Satellite Live Position data

🛰️ Monitor the ISS in real time.

A STEM teacher runs the Actor every 30 seconds during a class to show students the live latitude and longitude of the station overhead.

📈 Build an orbit track dataset.

A hobbyist sets snapshotsPerSatellite to 200 with a 5-second delay and collects a full 15-minute ground track for a visualization project.

📰 Enrich a news story with live position data.

A data journalist pulls a single ISS snapshot to include the current coordinates and altitude in an article about an upcoming crew handover.

🔔 Power a satellite pass alert.

A developer schedules the Actor every minute and pipes the footprint center into a script that checks if the ISS is near a given city.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key required	Reads the public live feed with zero authentication.
Flat, consistent schema	Every snapshot lands as one row with the same columns, ready for analysis.
Streaming support	Capture up to 1000 timed snapshots to build a flight path dataset.
Unit conversion built in	Switch between metric and imperial units with one input field.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets ISS & Satellite Live Position the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When ISS & Satellite Live Position changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with NORAD catalog IDs and choose between a single live reading or a timed sequence of snapshots to trace an orbit. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.01333 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$1.33
1,000 results	$13.33
10,000 results	$133.30

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to ISS & Satellite Live Position through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why do I get an error when I enter a NORAD ID other than 25544?

The live feed only tracks the ISS. Any other NORAD ID will return a per-item error in the dataset. Remove the extra IDs and run again with only 25544, or leave the field empty to default to the ISS.

Why am I getting fewer records than I requested?

The Actor stops when it hits either snapshotsPerSatellite or maxItems, whichever is smaller. Check both settings and raise the one that is capping your run.

The delay between snapshots seems longer than I set.

The minimum allowed delay is 1000 ms. If you set a lower value, the Actor clamps it to 1000 ms. Also, network latency can add a small overhead to each request.

My dataset shows the same position repeated many times.

If you set a very short delay, the ISS may not have moved enough for the source to report a new position. Increase the delay to 5000 ms or more to see meaningful movement between snapshots.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Which satellites can I track with this Actor?	The live position feed currently exposes only the International Space Station, NORAD ID 25544. Other NORAD IDs will return an error explaining the satellite is not tracked.
Do I need an API key or authentication?	No. The Actor reads a public, open endpoint. You do not need to register an app or provide credentials.
How often is the position updated?	The source updates the ISS position roughly every second. You control the snapshot interval with the delay between checks setting, with a minimum of 1000 ms.
Can I get the position in miles instead of kilometers?	Yes. Set the units input to miles to receive altitude in miles, velocity in mph, and footprint diameter in miles.
What does the footprint field mean?	The footprint is the diameter of the circle on Earth's surface that the satellite can see at that moment, given its altitude.
How many snapshots can I collect in one run?	You can set snapshotsPerSatellite up to 1000 and maxItems up to 1,000,000. The actual number collected is the lower of the two.
What format does the timestamp use?	Every snapshot includes a UTC timestamp in ISO 8601 format, so you can align it with other time-series data.
Can I run this on a schedule?	Yes. Use Apify schedules to run the Actor every minute, hour, or day and push the latest ISS position to a dataset or a webhook.
Does the Actor handle rate limits?	The minimum delay between snapshots is 1000 ms to respect the source rate limit. The Actor will not let you set a faster interval.
What output formats are supported?	You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify console or via the API.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by wheretheiss.at. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.