LaunchDetect
Launch Watch · the public journal

Space above us.
The ocean below.

Read the launch record. Follow the people in orbit. Explore how the paths to space connect with the world we share.

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Field notes

Guides to the public map
Dashboard evidence

Transporter 18 imagery before detection publication: a dated dashboard search audit

A retained 5 October, 02:29 UTC dashboard audit found 39 Transporter 18 thermal frames before its detection appeared in the public index. A dated update records the changed source classification.

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Dashboard evidence

Gravity-1’s four EEZ rows: count areas and claim labels separately

A Gravity-1 dashboard case separates four EEZ rows, five modeled-area links and seven claim-name appearances, with source labels and limits preserved.

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Dashboard evidence

Read USSF-385’s 178 satellite crossings as a dated model snapshot

Audit USSF-385’s 178 historical crossing entries. Read the check time, sort the list and keep expired model labels separate from collision-risk conclusions.

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Dashboard evidence

Three detections, two launch sites: keep every event on the map

A three-record LaunchDetect snapshot shares two coordinate pairs. Trace an order-dependent overwrite and preserve every event ID in a grouped site inventory.

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Current evidence

Smile’s 45-hour aurora watch: a test against its achieved orbit

A reproducible orbit model gives Smile 44.1 hours above its imaging gate. Compare that opportunity with the newly released aurora images.

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Current evidence

EarthCARE’s volcanic plume: what the grey gap leaves unresolved

An audit of nine labels in ESA’s Anak Krakatau composite separates detected features, presumed ash and the region neither radar nor lidar resolves.

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Current evidence

SPRITE has launched. Eight galaxy forecasts show its next test

SPRITE launched on October 1. Eight pre-launch galaxy forecasts show how wider ultraviolet bins change predicted signal-to-noise, and what remains unproven.

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Current evidence

NASA’s Gandak flood images: why two same-date maps differ

NASA’s October 2 Gandak images show late-September flooding. A reproducible test explains why two flood composites ending on the same date can differ.

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Current evidence

SDA’s fourth transport plane: the 21-satellite count, with its limits

A six-row evidence ledger tests what SDA’s planned 21-satellite launch would add to its 126-spacecraft Transport Layer and what remains unverified.

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Analysis

GOES file clocks: a 192-file audit of scan and archive timing

A 192-file GOES-16 audit shows why scan start, scan end, creation and archive modification produce different timing intervals.

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Analysis

Why one asteroid has two speeds in JPL’s close-approach data

Check v_rel and v_inf across 482 JPL records, including 2024 XA’s 4.574 km/s gap, and see why the two speed fields cannot be swapped.

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Analysis

The September 2017 flare: comparing NOAA’s X9.3 and X14.6 records

Compare the 2017 flare bulletin, GOES-15 operational readings and a GOES-16 science-report peak, with a reproducible scaling-only test.

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Analysis

NASA’s sea-level zero point: a 1,093-row baseline audit

NASA’s classroom sea-level series adds 38.56 mm to every source value. Audit all 1,093 rows and see which changes that shift preserves.

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Analysis

Same ABI band, different response: GOES-16 and GOES-18 compared

Compare GOES-16 and GOES-18 response functions in Bands 7 and 12, with a 32-table integral audit and explicit definitions of band center.

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Spaceflight

Apollo 11’s fuel margin: what the 45 seconds and 770 pounds actually counted

Reconcile Apollo 11’s 30-second call, 45-second depletion estimate and 770-pound propellant remainder with the mission report’s clocks and mass ledger.

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Spaceflight

Mars Climate Orbiter: why the record contains 226, 150–170, 110 and 57 kilometers

Follow Mars Climate Orbiter’s 226, 150–170, 110 and 57 km approach figures through target, estimate and reconstruction, then audit the impulse-unit error.

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Spaceflight

Voyager at Jupiter: why 350,000 km and 280,000 km can describe one flyby

Audit Voyager’s Jupiter flyby distances by keeping center distance, cloud-top altitude and each archive’s Jovian-radius definition separate.

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Spaceflight

Juno’s orbit changes, reconstructed from 77 perijove dates

Calculate 76 intervals from NASA’s 77 Juno perijove dates, track the moon-encounter steps, and separate historical cadence from the unflown 14-day plan.

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Spaceflight

Ingenuity’s longest, farthest and highest flights were different records

Audit Ingenuity’s duration, distance, altitude and speed records across all 72 flights, with full data and a peak-speed versus whole-flight comparison.

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Satellite

GOES pixel area: why a “2 km” cell covers 5.10 km² at Cape Canaveral

Reproduce a five-location GOES-16 grid test: the Cape Canaveral cell covers 5.10 km², while Seattle’s covers 15.10 km². Grid area is not resolution.

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Satellite

Sentinel-1 pairing: two descending scenes can still use different tracks

Audit six Paris Sentinel-1 RTC records: every adjacent-date pair changes track, including one pair with matching descending labels. Three same-track pairs remain.

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Satellite

TROPOMI’s 2019 pixel-size change, checked in two NO₂ orbit files

Calculate 210 actual pixel polygons around TROPOMI’s August 2019 transition. Sampled mean area falls 22.217%, rather than the ratio of rounded size labels.

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Satellite

MOD16’s year-end trap: a higher ET total with a lower daily rate

A real MOD16 grid cell rises from 4.2 to 4.4 mm, but its five- and six-day periods yield a lower daily rate. Reproduce the denominator check.

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Satellite

MCD12Q1 class codes: same year, different land-cover dictionaries

A 25-cell MODIS audit finds 23 numerical mismatches between two schemes in the same 2020 file. Similar labels can differ, and matching numbers can mislead.

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