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

Task: Wrangle GCAT Space Objects Dataset

Objective

Download and clean data from Jonathan McDowell's GCAT (General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects) and publish it as a structured dataset.

Source

Homepage: https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/
Data files: https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/
The main catalog file is satcat.tsv — the full satellite catalog

What to do

Download the main catalog from https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/cat/satcat.tsv
- This is a TSV with a fixed-width header section (lines starting with #) followed by tab-separated data
- Strip the header comment block, keep the column headers, save as data/satcat.csv
Inspect and document the schema — key fields include:
- JCAT — Jonathan's catalog number (primary key)
- Satname — satellite name
- Country — country of origin
- LDate — launch date
- Dest — destination orbit type (e.g. LEO, GEO, MEO, HEO, SSO, Lunar, etc.)
- Status — operational status (A=active, D=decayed, etc.)
- Type — object type (P=payload, R=rocket body, D=debris)
- Mass — mass in kg (where known)
Clean the data:
- Convert to proper CSV with consistent quoting
- Ensure dates are in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD) where possible
- Document any fields that have their own codebooks
Update datapackage.json:
- Set "status": "structured"
- Add the CSV as a resource with schema (field names and types)
- Add a views entry for a bar chart of launches by year (group by launch year, count objects)
Write README.md — describe the dataset, the source, key fields, and example use cases

File structure when done

gcat-artificial-space-objects/
  datapackage.json    # updated with resource + schema
  README.md           # dataset description
  data/
    satcat.csv        # cleaned catalog
  AGENTS.md
  TASK.md
  .datahubignore

Notes

The GCAT site has many sub-catalogs (launch vehicles, launch sites, etc.) — focus only on satcat for now
McDowell updates GCAT regularly; note the download date in README.md
Do NOT push to DataHub — leave that for the human operator
Status field codes: A=active, AR=active reentry, D=decayed, DU=decayed unknown date, E=expelled from solar system, L=landed, M=maneuvering, N=new (not tracked), R=reentered, S=sample return, U=uncontrolled reentry