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/

├ AGENTS.md

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/AGENTS.md

├ README.md

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/README.md

├ TASK.md

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/TASK.md

├ data/objects_per_year.csv

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/objects_per_year.csv

├ data/satcat.csv

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/satcat.csv

├ data/satcat_raw.tsv

https://datahub.io/technology/gcat-artificial-space-objects/_r/-/data/satcat_raw.tsv

└ datapackage.json

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. Fetch datapackage.json to inspect schema and resources
2. Download data resources listed in datapackage.json
3. Read README.md for full context

Data Views

70 Years of Space Launches: Objects by Type per Year

Data Files

Explore with AI

Satellite Catalog (satcat)

Field	Type	Format	Description	Constraints	Title
jcat	string		Jonathan's Catalog ID — unique GCAT identifier. Prefix letter indicates catalog (S = standard satcat).		JCAT ID
satcat	string		US Space Force / NORAD catalog number. Not set for all objects.		NORAD Catalog Number
name	string		Official or common name of the space object.		Object Name
launch_date	string	default	Date of launch (ISO 8601, YYYY-MM-DD). Partial dates (year only) appear when exact date is uncertain.		Launch Date
launch_year	number		Four-digit launch year, extracted from launch_date. Suitable for aggregation.		Launch Year
object_type	string		Simplified 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
state	string		ISO country code of the owning nation or organization (e.g. US, SU, CN, RU, FR). Historical codes like SU (Soviet Union) are preserved.		State
owner	string		Abbreviated name of the owning organization or agency.		Owner
status	string		Current or final orbital status. Values: In Orbit, Decayed, Deorbited, Beyond Earth Orbit, Exploded.		Status
orbit_class	string		Operational 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_km	number		Perigee altitude above Earth's surface in kilometres, at last known orbital epoch.		Perigee (km)
apogee_km	number		Apogee altitude above Earth's surface in kilometres, at last known orbital epoch.		Apogee (km)
inclination_deg	number		Orbital inclination in degrees, at last known orbital epoch.		Inclination (degrees)

Download

Download CSV

About

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.
Last updated: 15 March 2026
Total rows: ...
Format: CSV
File size: 6.41 MB
Source: GCAT — Jonathan McDowell's General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects
License: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License

Objects Launched per Year by Type

Field	Type	Description	Title
year	number		Year
Payload	number	Number of payloads launched.	Payloads
Rocket Body	number	Number of rocket bodies (launch vehicle stages) tracked.	Rocket Bodies
Debris	number	Number of fragmentation debris pieces tracked.	Debris
Component	number	Number of payload components tracked.	Components

Download

Download CSV

About

Pre-aggregated count of objects launched per year, broken down by object type. Used for the bar chart view.
Last updated: 15 March 2026
Total rows: ...
Format: CSV
File size: 1.46 kB
Source: GCAT — Jonathan McDowell's General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects
License: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License

About this dataset

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

Source data endpoint: https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/cat/satcat.tsv
Source catalog homepage: https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/
Local processing date in this repo: 2026-03-14

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.