Launch Simulator

Working with flight data

Open any launch in Advanced Science mode on the launch simulator and you can export the whole reconstructed flight in three formats: a telemetry table, a full data file, and a ground track. This page shows how to open those files in common software and what you can do with them. All of it is free to use, with no account, including for classroom and research projects.

What each file contains

Telemetry CSV

The flight, second by second

One row per second from liftoff to orbit: time, altitude, speed, vertical speed, flight-path angle, tangential acceleration (m/s² and g), dynamic pressure (Pa and kPa), downrange distance, and latitude/longitude. A few lines at the top starting with # note the vehicle, pad and the models used.

Full JSON

Everything, for code

The same per-second samples plus all the metadata: vehicle, pad, target orbit, launch azimuth, the flight events, the Max-Q figure, the derived insertion orbit, and the exact models used. Ideal for reading into a program.

Ground track KML

The path over Earth

The launch's ground track as longitude, latitude and altitude, plus a marker at the pad. Opens as a 3D line draped over the planet in Google Earth.

Opening the data in different software

Pick the tool you already use. Nothing here needs an ISSC account or any paid software.

Spreadsheets CSV

Works in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc and Apple Numbers.

  1. Download the Telemetry CSV from the flight's data view.
  2. Open it: double-click the file, or in your spreadsheet use File > Open (or File > Import in Google Sheets).
  3. The lines at the top that start with # are notes about the flight (vehicle, pad, Max-Q, the models used). The data table itself starts at the time_s header row.
  4. Select two columns (for example time_s and altitude_km) and insert a chart to plot the ascent.

Python CSV + JSON

The CSV loads cleanly in pandas (the comment="#" option skips the note lines):

import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

df = pd.read_csv("falcon-9-ascent-telemetry.csv", comment="#")
plt.plot(df["time_s"], df["altitude_km"])
plt.xlabel("Time (s)"); plt.ylabel("Altitude (km)")
plt.show()

# Max dynamic pressure (Max-Q) and when it happens
row = df.loc[df["dynamic_pressure_kpa"].idxmax()]
print("Max-Q:", round(row["dynamic_pressure_kpa"], 1), "kPa at T+", int(row["time_s"]), "s")

The JSON carries the metadata and the same samples:

import json

data = json.load(open("falcon-9-flight-science.json"))
print(data["vehicle"]["name"], "->", data["orbitSummary"]["periodMin"], "min orbit")
print("Provenance:", data["provenance"]["source"])

Google Earth KML

  1. Download the Ground track (KML) file.
  2. Open Google Earth on the web (or Google Earth Pro on desktop).
  3. Choose File > Import (web: the menu > Import KML file) and select the file.
  4. The ascent track appears as a line arcing away from the launch pad. You can also import the same file into Google Maps My Maps, or into GIS tools like the free QGIS.

No code, no install CSV

Paste columns straight into a graphing calculator like Desmos, or use your spreadsheet's built-in charts. You do not need to program anything to see the shape of a climb to orbit.

What you can do with it

A real-ish flight is a rich dataset. A few things it is good for:

Plot the ascent

Chart altitude and speed against time and see how a rocket actually trades vertical climb for the sideways speed that orbit needs.

Find Max-Q

The peak of the dynamic-pressure curve is the moment of greatest aerodynamic stress. Locate it, and see why it happens where speed is rising but the air is thinning.

Watch the gravity turn

The flight-path angle tips from straight up toward the horizon. Plot it to see the pitch program that gets a vehicle to orbit efficiently.

Check the physics

Differentiate speed to get acceleration, or use the insertion altitude and speed with the vis-viva equation to confirm the orbital period yourself.

Map the ground track

Drape the track over Earth and see why launch azimuth and the planet's own eastward spin decide which way a rocket heads.

Compare vehicles

Export a Falcon 9 and a Starship, overlay their curves, and compare how different vehicles climb.

Classroom and projects

A ready-made dataset for a physics lesson, a data-science exercise, or a school project. Free to use and share.

Learn a data tool

Practise pandas, a spreadsheet, or Google Earth on something more interesting than made-up numbers.

Honest note on the data: this is a faithful reconstruction synced to the real countdown, not a live feed from the vehicle (no free public source of real-time rocket telemetry exists). Falcon 9 flights use per-second telemetry archived from real webcasts; other vehicle families are reconstructed from published figures and are approximate. Dynamic pressure is computed from an exponential-atmosphere model, and the orbit summary from the vis-viva equation using typical insertion values. Every export states its own provenance in the file. Launch data is from The Space Devs' Launch Library 2.

Open a flight's data Browse the launch tracker