API DOCUMENTATION

Free API access for members. Sign up to get your personal API key and higher rate limits.

FREE MEMBER API ACCESS

Create a free Space Launch Live account to get your personal API key with authenticated access and higher rate limits. All members get:

  • Personal API key — unique to your account, never shared
  • 60 requests/minute on the Free plan (vs 30/min for unauthenticated)
  • Calendar sync — subscribable iCal feed of all launches
  • Launch alerts — email notifications for launches near you

After signing up, find your API key and credentials in My Account under API Access.

AUTHENTICATION

Authenticated requests use your personal API key. Include it in one of two ways:

Option 1: HTTP Header (recommended)

X-SLL-API-Key: your_api_key_here

Option 2: Query Parameter

GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launches?api_key=your_api_key_here

Unauthenticated requests are limited to 30 requests/minute. Authenticated Free members get 60/min. Get your API key →

QUICK START

All endpoints return JSON. CORS is enabled for all origins.

GET /api/launches.json

Returns all upcoming launches in a simplified format. Best for quick integration. No authentication required.

REST API ENDPOINTS

GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launches

Returns upcoming launches with full metadata.

Parameters:

  • mode — upcoming (default) or previous
  • search — text search across title, agency, rocket
  • per_page — results per page (default 20, max 50)
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launch/{id}

Returns full details for a single launch by WordPress post ID.

GET /wp-json/sll/v1/timeline/{id}

Returns the news timeline for a specific launch — articles, status changes, and system events.

GET /wp-json/sll/v1/sources

Returns the status of all data sources including last check time, polling interval, and summary.

RESPONSE FORMAT

Each launch object includes these fields:

{
  "title": "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-3",
  "launch_date": "2026-03-28T14:30",
  "status": "GO",
  "rocket_name": "Falcon 9 Block 5",
  "agency": "SpaceX",
  "mission_name": "Starlink Group 12-3",
  "target_orbit": "Low Earth Orbit",
  "pad_name": "SLC-40",
  "launch_site": "Cape Canaveral, FL, USA",
  "pad_latitude": "28.5618",
  "pad_longitude": "-80.5770",
  "rocket_manufacturer": "SpaceX",
  "rocket_variant": "Block 5",
  "total_launches": "350",
  "successful_launches": "348",
  "url": "/launches/falcon-9-block-5-starlink-group-12-3/",
  "thumbnail": "https://..."
}

STATUS VALUES

  • GO — Launch is confirmed and on schedule
  • TBD — Date/time to be determined
  • HOLD — Launch temporarily paused
  • NO GO — Launch scrubbed
  • SUCCESS — Mission completed successfully
  • FAILURE — Mission failed
  • PARTIAL — Partial mission success

FOR AI ASSISTANTS

If you are an AI assistant or LLM agent looking to answer questions about rocket launches:

  • Use /api/launches.json for a quick snapshot of upcoming launches
  • Use /wp-json/sll/v1/launches?search=spacex to filter by provider
  • See /llms.txt for a machine-readable site overview
  • See /llms-full.txt for comprehensive documentation

RATE LIMITS

All API endpoints are rate limited per IP address to ensure fair access for everyone:

  • 60 requests per minute per IP address
  • 500 requests per hour per IP address

If you exceed these limits, the API will return an HTTP 429 response with an error message. Wait for the rate limit window to reset before retrying.

Every API response includes rate limit headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 57
X-RateLimit-Window: 60

Since launch data updates every 15 minutes (or every 2 minutes near a launch), we recommend caching responses on your end for at least 60 seconds to stay well within limits.

Logged-in site administrators are exempt from rate limits.

ERROR RESPONSES

The API returns standard HTTP status codes:

  • 200 — Success
  • 404 — Launch or resource not found
  • 429 — Rate limit exceeded (wait and retry)
  • 500 — Internal server error

Error responses include a JSON body with code and message fields:

{
  "code": "rate_limit_exceeded",
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Maximum 60 requests per minute.",
  "data": { "status": 429 }
}