# ISS Tracker - Space Station & Astronauts (`lulzasaur/opennotify-scraper`) Actor

Track the International Space Station in real time. Get current ISS coordinates, people in space, and generate position tracking datasets over time.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/opennotify-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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

## ISS Tracker Scraper - Space Station Location

Track the International Space Station in real time using the Open Notify API. Get current ISS coordinates, see who's in space, and generate position tracking datasets.

### Features

- **ISS Location**: Get current latitude/longitude of the ISS
- **People in Space**: List all astronauts currently in space and their craft
- **ISS Tracking**: Poll ISS position over time to build a trajectory dataset with calculated velocity
- No API key required

### Modes

| Mode | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `iss-location` | Get current ISS position (single snapshot) |
| `people-in-space` | List all people currently in space |
| `iss-track` | Track ISS position over time (configurable duration and interval) |

### Input Example

```json
{
    "mode": "iss-track",
    "trackDuration": 10,
    "interval": 30
}
```

### Output Fields (Location/Track)

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `latitude` | number | ISS latitude |
| `longitude` | number | ISS longitude |
| `timestamp` | string | Position timestamp (ISO 8601) |
| `velocityKmH` | number | Calculated velocity in km/h (track mode, from consecutive points) |
| `pointIndex` | number | Track point number (track mode only) |

### Output Fields (People in Space)

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `name` | string | Astronaut name |
| `craft` | string | Spacecraft name (e.g., ISS, Tiangong) |
| `totalPeopleInSpace` | number | Total number of people in space |

### Tracking Mode

In `iss-track` mode, the scraper polls the ISS position at regular intervals and calculates velocity between consecutive points using the Haversine formula. The ISS orbits at roughly 27,600 km/h at ~408 km altitude.

- `trackDuration`: How long to track (1-60 minutes, default 10)
- `interval`: Seconds between polls (10-300 seconds, default 30)

### Cost

This actor charges $0.005 per result using Pay-Per-Event pricing.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to fetch: current ISS location, people in space, or track ISS over time.

## `trackDuration` (type: `integer`):

How long to track the ISS in minutes (iss-track mode only).

## `interval` (type: `integer`):

Seconds between ISS position checks (iss-track mode only).

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy configuration.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "iss-location",
  "trackDuration": 10,
  "interval": 30
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/opennotify-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/opennotify-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call lulzasaur/opennotify-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/opennotify-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/9cFKFUVXBlptKlKPL/builds/Tk0JfJEozataV8O2B/openapi.json