# Space Launch Live — Full Documentation for LLMs

> Space Launch Live is a real-time rocket launch tracking platform. This document provides complete context for AI assistants to accurately answer questions about rocket launches using data from this site.

## What This Site Does

Space Launch Live tracks every rocket launch worldwide — from SpaceX Falcon 9 missions to Arianespace, Rocket Lab, ULA, Blue Origin, ISRO, and more. It provides:

1. Live countdown timers that update every second
2. Launch status tracking (GO for launch, TBD, HOLD, scrubbed)
3. Visibility analysis — can you see the launch from your location?
4. Real-time weather at the launch pad
5. Interactive maps showing launch pad, trajectory, and distance
6. Booster reuse history for Falcon 9 and other reusable rockets
7. Crew manifests for crewed missions (Crew Dragon, Starliner, Soyuz)
8. YouTube webcast links and replay videos
9. News timeline per launch from space industry sources

## How to Get Launch Data

### REST API (recommended for agents)

Base URL: https://spacelaunchlive.com/wp-json/sll/v1

**Get upcoming launches:**
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launches?mode=upcoming&per_page=20

Returns JSON array with fields:
- title: Full launch name (e.g., "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-3")
- launch_date: UTC datetime (e.g., "2026-03-28T14:30")
- status: GO, TBD, HOLD, SUCCESS, FAILURE, NO GO, PARTIAL
- rocket_name: Vehicle name (e.g., "Falcon 9 Block 5")
- agency: Launch provider (e.g., "SpaceX")
- mission_name: Payload/mission (e.g., "Starlink Group 12-3")
- launch_site: Location (e.g., "Cape Canaveral, FL, USA")
- pad_name: Specific pad (e.g., "SLC-40")
- target_orbit: Orbital destination (e.g., "Low Earth Orbit")
- pad_latitude, pad_longitude: Coordinates for mapping
- url: Relative URL to the detail page

**Get past launches:**
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launches?mode=previous&per_page=20

**Get single launch:**
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/launch/{post_id}

**Get launch timeline (news):**
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/timeline/{post_id}

**Get data source status:**
GET /wp-json/sll/v1/sources

### Clean JSON Feed

GET /api/launches.json

Returns a simplified JSON array of upcoming launches with key fields only. No authentication required.

## Common Questions This Site Can Answer

### "When is the next SpaceX launch?"
The homepage shows all upcoming launches sorted by date. The first card is the next launch with a live countdown. Filter by agency to see SpaceX-only launches.

### "Can I see a rocket launch from [city]?"
Select your city from the location picker (250+ US cities or GPS). The visibility score (0-5 stars) tells you if the launch is visible, factoring in distance, direction, cloud cover, and time of day. The direction finder shows exactly where to look.

### "What is the Falcon 9 booster history?"
Each launch detail page shows the booster serial number (e.g., B1076), flight number, total flights, landing success rate, turnaround time, and a full list of every previous mission it flew.

### "Who is on the crew for [mission]?"
Crewed missions show a crew manifest with astronaut names, roles (Commander, Pilot, Mission Specialist), and their space agency (NASA, ESA, JAXA).

### "Was the launch successful?"
Past launches show their outcome (SUCCESS, FAILURE, PARTIAL) with the status badge. The timeline section shows news articles covering the result.

## Data Freshness

- Launch data updates every 15 minutes from Launch Library 2
- When a launch is within 4 hours, polling accelerates to every 2 minutes
- Weather data refreshes every 15 minutes per pad location
- News and video discovery runs hourly
- SpaceX booster data updates every 30 minutes

## Rocket Types Tracked

The site tracks all orbital and suborbital launch vehicles including:
- SpaceX: Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Starship
- ULA: Atlas V, Vulcan Centaur
- Rocket Lab: Electron
- Arianespace: Ariane 6, Vega-C
- Blue Origin: New Glenn, New Shepard
- NASA: SLS (Space Launch System)
- ISRO: GSLV, PSLV, LVM3
- JAXA: H3, Epsilon
- Roscosmos: Soyuz, Proton, Angara
- CASC: Long March series
- And many more

## Launch Sites Tracked

Major launch sites include:
- Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA
- Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
- Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA
- Wallops Flight Facility, VA, USA
- Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
- Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
- Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India
- Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
- Wenchang Space Launch Site, China
- Mahia Peninsula Launch Complex, New Zealand
- And many more worldwide

## Site Structure

Every launch has a unique page at /launches/{slug}/ containing:
1. Hero banner with title, agency, status, countdown
2. Quick stats bar (pad, site, orbit, mission type, program)
3. Three-column dashboard:
   - Column 1: Mission overview, launch details grid, crew manifest
   - Column 2: Interactive map, pad weather, visibility analysis with compass
   - Column 3: Booster history, vehicle specs, webcast videos, info links
4. Full-width launch timeline with news articles

## Technical Details

- Built on WordPress with a custom plugin (SLL Launches) and block theme
- No API keys required for any data source
- All data freely available via REST API
- Dark and light mode support
- Mobile responsive with live compass on phones
- SEO optimized with JSON-LD structured data on all pages