---
title: "Search the catalog of every cataloged Earth-orbiting object..."
method: GET
path: "/api/space/satellites"
tags: ["space"]
---

# Search the catalog of every cataloged Earth-orbiting object...

`GET /api/space/satellites`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://2s.io`
- URL: `https://2s.io/api/space/satellites`
- Auth: API key in header `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE`

Search the catalog of every cataloged Earth-orbiting object — ~69,000 satellites, rocket bodies, and debris tracked by US Space Force / 18 SDS (via CelesTrak SATCAT). Filter by name (q, e.g. "starlink"), owner/launching country (owner — code like US/PRC/CIS or a name like "china"), object type (type = payload | rocket body | debris | unknown), launch-year range (launchYearFrom/launchYearTo), international/COSPAR designator prefix (intlDesignator, e.g. "2024-"), on-orbit vs decayed (onOrbit), or exact NORAD number (noradId). Each result carries the NORAD id, name, international designator, object type, owner + resolved country, launch date + site, decay date (null = still in orbit), and orbital parameters (period, inclination, apogee, perigee). The envelope total is the full count matching your filter — so onOrbit=true&type=payload answers "how many active satellites are up there", and owner=PRC tells you who launched them. For a satellite's live sub-point position, pass its noradId to /api/space/satellite.

## Query parameters

- `q` string
- `owner` string
- `type` string
- `noradId` integer
- `intlDesignator` string
- `launchYearFrom` integer
- `launchYearTo` integer
- `onOrbit` 'true' | 'false'
- `limit` integer
- `offset` integer
- `trial` 1

## Other responses

- `200` (unresolved $ref)
- `400`: Invalid request — not charged. error.code: BAD_REQUEST or INVALID_PARAM (parameter validation; error.details.issues lists each problem), MALFORMED_JSON, or a request-specific code. Other client errors: 405 METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED (wrong verb; see the Allow header), 413 PAYLOAD_TOO_LARGE.
- `402`: Payment required. Body is the x402 PaymentRequirements envelope with a multi-network accepts array; the per-call price is in accepts[].amount (and on the operation as x-2s-price). Sign for whichever rail you hold USDC on (EIP-3009 for Base, partial SPL transfer for Solana) and retry with the PAYMENT-SIGNATURE header (X-PAYMENT also accepted for v1 clients). Also PAYMENT_SETTLE_FAILED (error envelope) when a verified payment failed to settle: error.details.chargeStatus is "not_charged" (retry with a fresh payment) or "unknown" (the authorization may still settle before its deadline — check it before retrying).
- `429`: Too many requests — RATE_LIMITED: our per-IP / per-payer limiter. Not charged; retry after Retry-After.
- `5XX`: Server-side failure. 500 INTERNAL: unexpected error; quote error.errorId (also the X-2s-Error-Id header). 502 UPSTREAM_UNAVAILABLE (or another UPSTREAM_* code): the data provider failed — composite endpoints refuse unbilled when every source fails. 503 SERVICE_PAUSED: endpoint paused by the operator kill switch, retry after Retry-After; 503 SPEND_CAP: daily upstream budget exhausted. 504 UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT. Not charged.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/2s-io/apis/2s-the-most-everything-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/2s-io/apis/2s-the-most-everything-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/2s-io/apis/2s-the-most-everything-api/revisions/da4c5caf686e?raw)