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GCAT: General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects

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Every artificial object ever launched into space — from Sputnik in 1957 to the present — catalogued by Jonathan McDowell. Includes launch date, country, object type (payload, rocket body, debris, component), orbit class, and current status.

API Access

Access dataset files directly from scripts, code, or AI agents.

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Dataset Files

Each file has a stable URL (r-link) that you can use directly in scripts, apps, or AI agents. These URLs are permanent and safe to hardcode.

/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/AGENTS.md
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/README.md
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/TASK.md
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/objects_per_year.csv
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/satcat.csv
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/satcat_raw.tsv
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/datapackage.json
Key Files

Start with these files — they give you everything you need to understand and access the dataset.

datapackage.json— metadata & schema
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/datapackage.json
README.md— documentation
https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/README.md
Typical Usage
  1. 1. Fetch datapackage.json to inspect schema and resources
  2. 2. Download data resources listed in datapackage.json
  3. 3. Read README.md for full context

Data Views

Data Previews

Satellite Catalog (satcat)

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Schema

nametypeformatdescriptionconstraintstitle
jcatstringJonathan's Catalog ID — unique GCAT identifier. Prefix letter indicates catalog (S = standard satcat).JCAT ID
satcatstringUS Space Force / NORAD catalog number. Not set for all objects.NORAD Catalog Number
namestringOfficial or common name of the space object.Object Name
launch_datestringdefaultDate of launch (ISO 8601, YYYY-MM-DD). Partial dates (year only) appear when exact date is uncertain.Launch Date
launch_yearnumberFour-digit launch year, extracted from launch_date. Suitable for aggregation.Launch Year
object_typestringSimplified object classification. Values: Payload, Rocket Body, Debris, Component, Suborbital Payload, Unknown. Derived from the GCAT SatType byte 1.{ "enum": [ "Payload", "Rocket Body", "Debris", "Component", "Suborbital Payload", "Unknown" ] }Object Type
statestringISO country code of the owning nation or organization (e.g. US, SU, CN, RU, FR). Historical codes like SU (Soviet Union) are preserved.State
ownerstringAbbreviated name of the owning organization or agency.Owner
statusstringCurrent or final orbital status. Values: In Orbit, Decayed, Deorbited, Beyond Earth Orbit, Exploded.Status
orbit_classstringOperational orbit category code (e.g. LEO/I, GEO/S, MEO, HEO). See https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/web/intro/orbits.html for definitions.Orbit Class
perigee_kmnumberPerigee altitude above Earth's surface in kilometres, at last known orbital epoch.Perigee (km)
apogee_kmnumberApogee altitude above Earth's surface in kilometres, at last known orbital epoch.Apogee (km)
inclination_degnumberOrbital inclination in degrees, at last known orbital epoch.Inclination (degrees)

Objects Launched per Year by Type

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Schema

nametypedescriptiontitle
yearnumberYear
PayloadnumberNumber of payloads launched.Payloads
Rocket BodynumberNumber of rocket bodies (launch vehicle stages) tracked.Rocket Bodies
DebrisnumberNumber of fragmentation debris pieces tracked.Debris
ComponentnumberNumber of payload components tracked.Components

Data Files

FileDescriptionSizeLast modifiedDownload
satcat
Standard catalog of all artificial space objects. One row per phase; most objects have a single phase. Covers all objects ever tracked in Earth orbit and beyond.6.41 MBabout 14 hours ago
satcat
objects-per-year
Pre-aggregated count of objects launched per year, broken down by object type. Used for the bar chart view.1.46 kBabout 14 hours ago
objects-per-year
FilesSizeFormatCreatedUpdatedLicenseSource
26.41 MBcsv1 day agoOpen Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and LicenseGCAT — Jonathan McDowell's General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects
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GCAT: General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects

Structured dataset derived from Jonathan McDowell's GCAT catalog of artificial space objects launched since 1957.

Overview

This repository contains a cleaned tabular extract of GCAT's satcat dataset, plus an annual aggregate used for visualization.

  • Dataset name: gcat-artificial-space-objects
  • Coverage: 1957 to present (based on available source records)
  • Current status: structured
  • Primary source: https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/

Files

  • datapackage.json: dataset metadata, resource schemas, and chart view
  • data/satcat.csv: cleaned object-level catalog (68,140 data rows)
  • data/objects_per_year.csv: yearly object counts by type (70 data rows)
  • scripts/clean.py: transformation script from raw GCAT TSV to cleaned CSV
  • TASK.md: wrangling task brief

Source and update note

GCAT is maintained by Jonathan McDowell and updated over time. Re-running the pipeline may produce different row counts and values as the upstream catalog changes.

Key fields (satcat.csv)

  • jcat: GCAT object identifier
  • satcat: NORAD catalog number (when available)
  • name: object name
  • launch_date: launch date (ISO-like best effort)
  • launch_year: extracted year for aggregation
  • object_type: simplified type (Payload, Rocket Body, Debris, Component, Suborbital Payload, Unknown)
  • state: owning country/organization code
  • owner: owning agency/organization code
  • status: simplified mission/orbital status
  • orbit_class: orbit class code from GCAT
  • perigee_km, apogee_km, inclination_deg: orbital parameters (when known)

Example use cases

  • Trend analysis of launch activity by decade
  • Comparing payloads vs debris growth over time
  • Country-level historical launch profiling
  • Orbit regime analysis using orbit_class

Notes on cleaning

The transform script:

  • strips GCAT comment/header metadata from raw TSV
  • normalizes key fields into a publishable CSV schema
  • maps GCAT type/status codes into simplified analysis-friendly labels
  • keeps unknown/partial values as blank where parsing is not reliable

License

datapackage.json declares ODC-PDDL-1.0.