Rocket Spotter - About
This service originated from a desire to track Rocket Launches in Florida (mainly SpaceX launches with reusable boosters that return to the launch site "RTLS") with a view to arranging a trip to view a launch in person.
This was back in 2022 just after the first Artemis launch. At that time there were services that provide all the details for launches and some of them
had very good search facilities, although they were overly complex at times. One thing that was missing then was a simple list of the planned launches
for the next 6 to 12 months.
So an idea was born to attempt to close this gap and the first incarnation was a Lambda (a regular running script) that queried data from available sources and emailed a discrete list of interested parties (er.. this was some of the author's friends) when the schedule changed.
There is a write up of the development process in the blog a Rocket Spotter's Progress, which is quite technical in nature. Since this was published in April 2023 much progress has been made including re-platforming the application on python anywhere which is a service which offers economical hosting of applications written in Python (programming language). The application has been expanded from a simple script with email output to being a site which hosts just enough launch information to allow users to understand what is happening on the launch front across the globe. The Lambda still runs, but it is used to update the database that supports the Rocket Spotter Site. This site relies heavily on data made available by The Space Devs (see credits at the bottom of each page). The scope of the content is a 12 month look ahead and launches which have occurred in the last 2 months (approximately). Please note that launch providers tend to set approximate dates which are then firmed up closer to the actual launches. Often, dates aren't published beyon the end of the calendar year (31st December) until halfway through the year, so even though the scope of the content aims to be 12 months ahead, sometimes the launch schedule doesn't go that far.
An innovative function is the globe search which allows users to pick a launch site on a 3D rotating globe to see what launches are planned from a particular location. The same functionality is available by following the Location link from any of the entries in the tables in the home page or the launch reporting page.
Any feedback on the content and functionality is welcome @ Rocket Spotter Feedback.
Please note that the site and it's content is offered without warranty or support (see the disclaimer page for more information). We hope you find the site useful!
So an idea was born to attempt to close this gap and the first incarnation was a Lambda (a regular running script) that queried data from available sources and emailed a discrete list of interested parties (er.. this was some of the author's friends) when the schedule changed.
There is a write up of the development process in the blog a Rocket Spotter's Progress, which is quite technical in nature. Since this was published in April 2023 much progress has been made including re-platforming the application on python anywhere which is a service which offers economical hosting of applications written in Python (programming language). The application has been expanded from a simple script with email output to being a site which hosts just enough launch information to allow users to understand what is happening on the launch front across the globe. The Lambda still runs, but it is used to update the database that supports the Rocket Spotter Site. This site relies heavily on data made available by The Space Devs (see credits at the bottom of each page). The scope of the content is a 12 month look ahead and launches which have occurred in the last 2 months (approximately). Please note that launch providers tend to set approximate dates which are then firmed up closer to the actual launches. Often, dates aren't published beyon the end of the calendar year (31st December) until halfway through the year, so even though the scope of the content aims to be 12 months ahead, sometimes the launch schedule doesn't go that far.
An innovative function is the globe search which allows users to pick a launch site on a 3D rotating globe to see what launches are planned from a particular location. The same functionality is available by following the Location link from any of the entries in the tables in the home page or the launch reporting page.
Any feedback on the content and functionality is welcome @ Rocket Spotter Feedback.
Please note that the site and it's content is offered without warranty or support (see the disclaimer page for more information). We hope you find the site useful!