# ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper (`parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper`) Actor

Collects live position snapshots for the International Space Station and returns each one as a flat row with coordinates, altitude, velocity, footprint, and a UTC timestamp.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Education, Developer tools, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 89.7% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 result items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper

**Scrape the live position of the International Space Station and other satellites, up to a million snapshots per run.** Each record returns latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, footprint, and a UTC timestamp. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Tracking the ISS usually means opening a dedicated map or a NASA feed that is not built for bulk data collection. This Actor reads the public live position API directly, captures one or many snapshots for the International Space Station, and returns each reading in a flat, consistent row. No API key, no authentication, and no manual polling.

| Who uses it | What they scrape ISS & Satellite Live Position for |
|---|---|
| STEM educators | Capture real-time ISS coordinates to build classroom orbit-tracking exercises. |
| Space enthusiasts | Log the ISS flight path over time to visualize its ground track. |
| Data journalists | Pull live ISS position data to illustrate stories about space missions or overflight events. |
| App developers | Feed a live satellite position into a dashboard or notification system. |

### What it does

This Actor collects live position snapshots for the International Space Station and returns each one as a flat row with coordinates, altitude, velocity, and a timestamp.

- 🛰️ **Single snapshot:** get one instant reading of latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, and footprint.
- 📡 **Flight path streaming:** capture up to 1000 snapshots per satellite with a configurable delay to map an orbit track.
- 📏 **Unit selection:** output altitude in kilometers or miles, velocity in km/h or mph, and footprint in the matching unit.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with ISS & Satellite Live Position data

**🛰️ Monitor the ISS in real time.**

A STEM teacher runs the Actor every 30 seconds during a class to show students the live latitude and longitude of the station overhead.

**📈 Build an orbit track dataset.**

A hobbyist sets snapshotsPerSatellite to 200 with a 5-second delay and collects a full 15-minute ground track for a visualization project.

**📰 Enrich a news story with live position data.**

A data journalist pulls a single ISS snapshot to include the current coordinates and altitude in an article about an upcoming crew handover.

**🔔 Power a satellite pass alert.**

A developer schedules the Actor every minute and pipes the footprint center into a script that checks if the ISS is near a given city.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key required** | Reads the public live feed with zero authentication. |
| **Flat, consistent schema** | Every snapshot lands as one row with the same columns, ready for analysis. |
| **Streaming support** | Capture up to 1000 timed snapshots to build a flight path dataset. |
| **Unit conversion built in** | Switch between metric and imperial units with one input field. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets ISS & Satellite Live Position the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When ISS & Satellite Live Position changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor with NORAD catalog IDs and choose between a single live reading or a timed sequence of snapshots to trace an orbit. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.01333 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $1.33 |
| 1,000 results | $13.33 |
| 10,000 results | $133.30 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [ISS & Satellite Live Position Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to ISS & Satellite Live Position through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why do I get an error when I enter a NORAD ID other than 25544?**

The live feed only tracks the ISS. Any other NORAD ID will return a per-item error in the dataset. Remove the extra IDs and run again with only 25544, or leave the field empty to default to the ISS.

**Why am I getting fewer records than I requested?**

The Actor stops when it hits either snapshotsPerSatellite or maxItems, whichever is smaller. Check both settings and raise the one that is capping your run.

**The delay between snapshots seems longer than I set.**

The minimum allowed delay is 1000 ms. If you set a lower value, the Actor clamps it to 1000 ms. Also, network latency can add a small overhead to each request.

**My dataset shows the same position repeated many times.**

If you set a very short delay, the ISS may not have moved enough for the source to report a new position. Increase the delay to 5000 ms or more to see meaningful movement between snapshots.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which satellites can I track with this Actor? | The live position feed currently exposes only the International Space Station, NORAD ID 25544. Other NORAD IDs will return an error explaining the satellite is not tracked. |
| Do I need an API key or authentication? | No. The Actor reads a public, open endpoint. You do not need to register an app or provide credentials. |
| How often is the position updated? | The source updates the ISS position roughly every second. You control the snapshot interval with the delay between checks setting, with a minimum of 1000 ms. |
| Can I get the position in miles instead of kilometers? | Yes. Set the units input to miles to receive altitude in miles, velocity in mph, and footprint diameter in miles. |
| What does the footprint field mean? | The footprint is the diameter of the circle on Earth's surface that the satellite can see at that moment, given its altitude. |
| How many snapshots can I collect in one run? | You can set snapshotsPerSatellite up to 1000 and maxItems up to 1,000,000. The actual number collected is the lower of the two. |
| What format does the timestamp use? | Every snapshot includes a UTC timestamp in ISO 8601 format, so you can align it with other time-series data. |
| Can I run this on a schedule? | Yes. Use Apify schedules to run the Actor every minute, hour, or day and push the latest ISS position to a dataset or a webhook. |
| Does the Actor handle rate limits? | The minimum delay between snapshots is 1000 ms to respect the source rate limit. The Actor will not let you set a faster interval. |
| What output formats are supported? | You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify console or via the API. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by wheretheiss.at. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `satelliteIds` (type: `array`):

List of NORAD catalog numbers to track. The live position feed currently exposes one satellite: 25544 (International Space Station). Other NORAD IDs will return a per-item error explaining the satellite is not currently tracked. Leave empty to default to the ISS.

## `units` (type: `string`):

Unit system for altitude (km/mi), velocity (km/h, mph), and footprint diameter (km/mi).

## `snapshotsPerSatellite` (type: `integer`):

How many position snapshots to capture for each satellite. 1 = single live reading. Use higher values with delay below to map a flight path.

## `delayBetweenChecksMs` (type: `integer`):

Milliseconds between snapshots. Ignored if snapshotsPerSatellite is 1. Minimum 1000ms to respect the source rate limit.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many position records to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "satelliteIds": [
        "25544"
    ],
    "units": "kilometers",
    "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
    "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "satelliteIds": ["25544"],
    "units": "kilometers",
    "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
    "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "satelliteIds": [
    "25544"
  ],
  "units": "kilometers",
  "snapshotsPerSatellite": 1,
  "delayBetweenChecksMs": 5000,
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/iss-current-location-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/E9vIsR7Uqhz72Vkka/builds/RQThlVxIjTJa4aNlb/openapi.json