NASA JPL Horizons Ephemeris Scraper

NASA JPL Horizons Ephemeris Scraper

Scrape NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris data for any solar-system body, from asteroids to spacecraft, up to a million records per run. Every row returns position, velocity, and physical data for the exact epochs you choose. No API key or login. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

NASA JPL Horizons is the authoritative source for solar-system ephemerides, but its web interface is built for one-off lookups, not bulk data. This Actor queries the Horizons API directly, so you can pull a full ephemeris table for any body, any observer, any time span, in one run. It returns a flat dataset ready for analysis, simulation, or archival.

Who uses it	What they scrape NASA JPL Horizons for
Astronomy researchers	Generate precise position and velocity tables for orbital mechanics studies
Space mission planners	Pull trajectory data for spacecraft and natural bodies to support mission design
Astrology software developers	Build ephemeris databases for chart calculation and transit analysis
Science educators	Create classroom datasets showing planetary motion over time

What it does

This Actor collects NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris data for a chosen body, observer center, and time span, and returns each sampled epoch as a flat row.

• 🪐 Any solar-system body: choose a major planet, the Sun, Moon, or any custom Horizons id like an asteroid, comet, or spacecraft.
• 📍 Flexible observer centers: geocentric, solar-system barycenter, Sun center, Moon center, or Mars center.
• ⏱️ Custom time spans: set start and stop epochs and a step size from hours to days, or split the span into equal parts.
• 📦 Flat row output: each sampled epoch becomes one record with position, velocity, and physical data, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML export.

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

What you can do with NASA JPL Horizons data

🔭 Generate ephemeris tables for research.

An astronomer sets body=499 (Mars), center=500@399 (geocentric), start=2026-06-08, stop=2026-06-18, step=1 d, and gets ten daily rows of Mars's position and velocity for a paper on planetary motion.

🛰️ Pull spacecraft trajectory data.

A mission analyst sets body=custom, customBody=-125544 (ISS), center=500@399, and a one-hour step over a day to get 24 rows of ISS state vectors for conjunction analysis.

📅 Build an astrology ephemeris database.

A developer sets body=10 (Sun), center=500@399, start=2026-01-01, stop=2026-12-31, step=1 d, and collects 365 rows of solar longitude to power a transit calculator.

🎓 Create classroom datasets.

A teacher sets body=599 (Jupiter), center=500@10 (Sun center), start=2020-01-01, stop=2030-01-01, step=30 d, and gets 120 rows showing Jupiter's heliocentric orbit for a physics lab.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key or login	The Actor handles the Horizons API request for you, so you skip registration and rate-limit headaches.
Bulk data in one run	Collect up to a million ephemeris records per run, far beyond the web interface's practical limits.
Fixed schema	Every row has the same fields, so you can merge runs or feed them straight into a database.
Custom body support	Use any valid Horizons COMMAND id, from 1P/Halley to the ISS, not the built-in major bodies.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets NASA JPL Horizons the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	NASA JPL Horizons Ephemeris Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When NASA JPL Horizons 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 from a body id, observer center, start and stop times, and a step size. Filters run as each epoch is sampled, so only the records you need reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "startTime": "2026-06-08",
 "stopTime": "2026-06-18",
 "stepSize": "1 d",
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "startTime": "2026-06-08",
 "stopTime": "2026-06-18",
 "stepSize": "1 d",
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.006 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.60
1,000 results	$6.00
10,000 results	$60.00

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 NASA JPL Horizons Ephemeris 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 NASA JPL Horizons 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/jpl-horizons-ephemeris-scraper"

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

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your start time is before your stop time and that the step size is valid. Also verify the body id, especially if you used a custom id: it must be a valid Horizons COMMAND id.

The run fails with an error about the body id.

Make sure you selected 'Custom id' in the Body dropdown and entered the id in the 'Custom body id' field. For major bodies, leave the custom field empty.

I get fewer records than expected.

The 'Maximum records' field limits the output. Increase it if you need more rows, up to 1,000,000. Also check that your step size does not produce more samples than the span allows.

The output fields are different from what I expected.

The returned fields depend on the observer center. For example, geocentric output includes range and range-rate, while barycentric output may not. Review the sample output for your chosen center.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is NASA JPL Horizons?	NASA JPL Horizons is an online solar-system data service that provides accurate ephemerides for planets, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. It is maintained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Do I need an API key to use this Actor?	No. The Actor queries the public Horizons API endpoint directly, so you do not need to register or provide credentials.
What bodies can I query?	You can choose any of the built-in major bodies (Sun through Pluto, plus the Moon), or select 'Custom id' and enter any valid Horizons COMMAND id, such as '433' for Eros or '1P' for Halley.
What observer centers are supported?	The Actor supports geocentric (Earth center), solar-system barycenter, Sun center, Moon center, and Mars center. These cover the most common use cases for apparent and geometric positions.
How do I specify the time span?	Set the start time and stop time in YYYY-MM-DD format (a time like '2026-06-08 12:00' also works), then choose a step size such as '1 d', '6 h', or '30 m'. You can also enter a count like '20' to split the span into 20 equal steps.
What data fields are returned per record?	Each row includes the epoch, position and velocity vectors, and physical data such as range and range-rate, depending on the observer center. The exact fields are shown in the sample output.
Can I export the results?	Yes. The Actor outputs a flat dataset that you can export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform.
What is the maximum number of records?	You can collect up to 1,000,000 records per run. Set the 'Maximum records' field to limit the output if you only need a subset.
Is this Actor affiliated with NASA?	No. This Actor is an independent tool that accesses the public Horizons API. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with NASA or JPL.
Can I use this for commercial projects?	Yes, as long as you comply with NASA's data usage policies. The Horizons data is generally public domain, but check the current terms on the JPL website.

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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 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 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.