🛰️ NASA Open Data & Databases

NASA publishes nearly all of its data for free. These portals expose mission archives, image libraries, planetary data, and science APIs that anyone — researcher, journalist, or curious citizen — can query without an account.

📚
Master catalog of every public NASA dataset — earth science, planetary, astrophysics, heliophysics, aeronautics. Over 40,000 datasets browseable by mission, topic, or agency center.
OfficialFreeAPI
🖼️
Searchable archive of every public NASA photo and video — from Apollo missions to JWST first-light images. Free download, no watermarks.
OfficialFree
🪐
The official archive of every planetary mission's raw data — Mars rovers, Cassini at Saturn, New Horizons at Pluto, OSIRIS-REx, Voyager. Used by professional scientists worldwide.
OfficialFree
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Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. Every Hubble exposure since 1990 plus all JWST observations. Search by target, instrument, date, or program. Free download.
OfficialFreeAPI
🌍
Climate, atmosphere, oceans, land cover, snow & ice — Earth observation data from MODIS, Landsat, OCO-2, GRACE-FO, ICESat-2 and dozens more missions.
OfficialFree
📜
Every NASA technical paper, mission report, conference proceeding, and patent dating back to the 1950s. The agency's full historical brain trust, fully searchable.
OfficialFree
🚀
Free developer APIs: Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), Mars Rover photos, Near-Earth Object feed, EPIC Earth imagery, exoplanet archive, and 30+ more endpoints. Get a free API key.
OfficialFreeAPI

☄️ Near-Earth Objects, Asteroids & Meteor Tracking

NASA, ESA, and the Minor Planet Center continuously catalogue every known asteroid and comet that crosses Earth's orbit. These tools let you see what's flying past right now, when the next close approach is, and how meteor showers are unfolding overhead.

🌠
JPL's live table of every near-Earth asteroid expected to pass within ~7.5 million km in the next 60 days, with size, speed, and miss-distance for each. The official "is this going to hit us" list.
OfficialLiveFree
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Every detected fireball/bolide impact event from US Government sensors since 1988 — date, location, energy, altitude. The official record of meteors that actually hit the atmosphere.
OfficialFree
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The world's official catalogue of every asteroid, comet, and trans-Neptunian object — operated by the International Astronomical Union at the Smithsonian. Submit your own observations if you have a telescope.
OfficialFree
⚠️
European Space Agency's near-Earth object risk list. Independent of NASA's. Cross-reference if you want a second opinion on impact probabilities.
OfficialFree
📅
Crowdsourced fireball sighting database. Search recent events by state and date — see eyewitness accounts, trajectories, sound reports. Submit your own sighting.
FreeLive
🌟
Annual meteor shower calendar (Perseids, Geminids, Leonids…) with peak dates, radiant maps, and Zenithal Hourly Rate forecasts. Plan your meteor-watching night.
Free
🛡️
The DART mission successfully changed an asteroid's orbit in September 2022. Read the actual published mission results and how Earth-protection works in practice.
OfficialFree

📡 Live Telescope Feeds & Space Cams

Watching space happen in real time. These streams are operated by NASA, ESA, observatories, and mission ground stations.

NASA Live — Earth from the ISSContinuous HD downlink from the International Space Station
NASA TV — Public ChannelMission coverage, briefings, launches, EVAs
SpaceX Live — Falcon & StarshipActive when launches are scheduled
ESA Web TVEuropean Space Agency live programming

On-Demand Telescope Time & Sky Surveys

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Book real telescopes in the Canary Islands or Chile and image any target from your browser. Live community streams of celestial events.
Live
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Browser-based interactive sky atlas — pan and zoom across the Pan-STARRS, DSS, 2MASS surveys with overlay of every catalogued object.
Free
🌌
Real-time planetarium in your browser. See exactly what's overhead at your location right now — planets, satellites, ISS passes, deep-sky objects.
FreeLive
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Real-time 3D simulation of every active NASA spacecraft. Watch Voyager leaving the heliosphere, Perseverance on Mars, Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun.
OfficialFreeLive

🛰️ ISS & Satellite Tracking

Over 11,000 satellites are in orbit right now. These tools track every one of them in real time and tell you exactly when the ISS, Hubble, or Starlink train will pass over your house.

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Free email/SMS alerts for ISS sightings from your home — NASA tells you exactly when to look up. Includes time, duration, max elevation, direction.
OfficialFree
🛰️
Live map of every catalogued satellite. Filter by category (Starlink, ISS, GPS, military, weather, defunct). See pass predictions for your location.
LiveFree
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The professional source for orbital element data (TLEs). Used by amateur radio operators, satellite trackers, and researchers worldwide. Updated several times daily.
FreeAPI
🌐
Set your location and get pass predictions for ISS, Hubble, Starlink trains, plus visible satellites tonight. Long-running, ad-free, accurate.
Free
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Official US Space Force Combined Space Operations Center catalog — the most authoritative orbital data source. Free account required.
OfficialFree
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Public records of every satellite filing in front of the US FCC — frequency assignments, orbital slots, deployment plans for Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper, and military payloads.
OfficialFree

🛸 UFO / UAP Sightings & Government Reports

Since the 2017 New York Times "Glowing Auras" story and the 2023 Congressional UAP hearings, the US government has stood up the official All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and released decades of previously-classified video. These are the official and crowdsourced UAP databases.

🇺🇸
The official US Department of Defense UAP investigation office. Reports to Congress, declassified case files, official reporting form for current/former military and government employees.
OfficialFree
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Every USAF Project Blue Book file (1947–1969) — over 12,000 cases of UFO investigations. Fully digitized, searchable by date, state, witness type, conclusion.
OfficialFree
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The largest crowdsourced UFO sighting database in the US. Over 170,000 reports searchable by date, state, shape, duration. Submit your own sighting (24-hour hotline).
FreeLive
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Civilian UFO research organization since 1969. Case management system, field investigators, and the largest international sighting database outside government records.
Free
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Declassified CIA documents on UFOs — historical agency analyses, foreign sighting reports, Cold War aerial phenomena assessments. Free to browse.
OfficialFree
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Office of the Director of National Intelligence congressionally-mandated annual UAP report. The official intelligence community position on UAP, updated yearly.
OfficialFree
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Veteran FOIA requester John Greenewald's archive — the official Pentagon-released UAP videos (Tic Tac, Gimbal, GoFast) plus thousands of FOIA-extracted DoD records.
Free

☀️ Space Weather, Solar Flares & Aurora Forecasts

The Sun produces flares and coronal mass ejections that can knock out satellites, GPS, and power grids — and paint the sky with auroras. NOAA and NASA monitor it 24/7.

🌞
The US official space weather forecaster. Real-time solar flare alerts, geomagnetic storm forecasts, satellite environment, radiation belt status. Government agency, free, authoritative.
OfficialLiveFree
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Live map showing the auroral oval over the next 30 minutes — exactly where Northern/Southern Lights are visible right now. Refreshes every 5 minutes.
OfficialLive
🛰️
Live full-disk imagery of the Sun in 13 wavelengths — see flares, sunspots, coronal holes, and CMEs as they happen. Updated every few minutes.
OfficialLive
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Daily-updated digest of solar activity, near-Earth asteroids, aurora alerts, and meteor showers. Independent, plain-English, run by professional astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips since 1998.
Free

🚀 Launch Schedule & Mission Activity

Every rocket launching from anywhere on Earth, organized by date.

📅
The cleanest upcoming-launch calendar — every NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, Roscosmos, and CNSA launch with countdown, livestream link, payload details.
FreeLive
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Free public API powering most third-party launch trackers. JSON feed of every upcoming and past launch with full metadata.
FreeAPI
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Federal Aviation Administration public list of every commercial US launch and reentry. Includes mishap reports, environmental assessments, license records.
OfficialFree
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SpaceX's own upcoming-mission page with payload details, customer info, livestream link, and post-mission press kits.
Free

🌌 Active Space Missions — Who's Doing What Right Now

Quick reference to the agencies and people currently exploring space.

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United States — Artemis (Moon), Mars Sample Return, Europa Clipper, Dragonfly (Titan), Roman Space Telescope.
🇪🇺
22 member states — JUICE (Jupiter moons), Hera (asteroid defense), ExoMars rover, Gaia, Euclid.
🇨🇳
Tiangong space station, Chang'e lunar program, Tianwen Mars missions.
🇮🇳
Chandrayaan lunar program, Aditya-L1 solar observatory, Gaganyaan crew vehicle.
🇯🇵
SLIM lunar lander, Hayabusa asteroid sample return, MMX Mars moons mission.
🇷🇺
Russian state space agency — Soyuz crew launches, Progress cargo, ISS partnership.
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Private US launch & spaceflight company — Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Starship, Dragon, Starlink.
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New Shepard suborbital, New Glenn orbital launch vehicle, Blue Moon lunar lander.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these databases really free?
Yes. Every link on this page goes to a government agency, a non-profit research organization, or an established free public database. NASA, ESA, NOAA, the FCC and the Minor Planet Center publish their data as a public service. A handful of services (Slooh telescope time, etc.) charge for premium access but their basic data is free.
How do I know if an asteroid is going to hit Earth?
Check NASA's Sentry impact-risk table. Every known near-Earth object that has any non-zero impact probability over the next 100 years is listed there with its odds. The vast majority of objects are quickly removed once additional observations refine their orbit.
How do I report a UFO/UAP sighting?
Civilians: NUFORC's hotline (24/7) or web form. Current/former military or government employees: AARO's official secure reporting form. AARO accepts reports going back decades. The FAA also takes near-aircraft sighting reports.
Can I watch the ISS from my house?
Yes — sign up at NASA's Spot The Station for free email/text alerts. The ISS is the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Sun and Moon and is visible to the naked eye for several minutes per pass.
Where do I find live launch streams?
NASA TV for NASA missions, SpaceX live for SpaceX missions, ESA Web TV for European launches. Next Spaceflight aggregates streams for every upcoming mission worldwide.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-06 • Page maintained by SearchSystems.net editors. All linked sources are official agencies or established research organizations.