juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "UCS Satellite Database"
language:
- en
description: "Comprehensive database of active satellites maintained by the Union of Concerned Scientists, including orbital parameters, purpose, and ownership. Updated quarterly."
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- satellite
- orbit
- ucs
- launch
- open-data
- tabular-data
- parquet
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/ucs_satellite_database.parquet
default: true
---

# UCS Satellite Database

*Part of the [Orbital Mechanics Datasets](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994) collection on Hugging Face.*


The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Satellite Database is the most comprehensive
publicly available database of operational satellites, currently tracking **7,560**
active satellites from 69 countries/organizations across 31 purpose categories.

## Dataset description

The UCS Satellite Database has been maintained since 2005 and is updated roughly quarterly.
It includes detailed information about each operational satellite: its name, country of
registry, operator, purpose (communications, Earth observation, navigation, scientific,
technology development, etc.), orbital parameters, launch details, and physical characteristics.

What makes the UCS database uniquely valuable is its focus on the "why" behind each satellite, not just the "where." While NORAD's SATCAT tracks orbital parameters and the TLE catalog provides ephemeris data, the UCS database adds the human layer: who operates each satellite, what it does, who pays for it, and what sector it serves. This makes it the go-to source for policy researchers studying the militarization of space, economists analyzing the satellite communications market, and journalists reporting on the growing commercial space industry. The database distinguishes between civil, commercial, government, and military users, and categorizes purposes from broadband communications to weather monitoring to signals intelligence.

The database captures the full diversity of the operational satellite population across all orbit regimes. LEO satellites (below 2,000 km) include Earth observation platforms, broadband mega-constellations, and scientific missions. MEO hosts navigation constellations like GPS and Galileo. GEO satellites at 35,786 km serve as communications relays, weather sentinels, and early warning platforms. Elliptical orbits like Molniya and Tundra provide high-latitude coverage for nations like Russia. Physical parameters such as launch mass, dry mass, and power output help characterize satellite capability classes, from 1-kg CubeSats to 6,000-kg GEO communications platforms.

Because the UCS database is curated by analysts rather than generated automatically from tracking data, it includes contextual information that no orbital catalog can provide -- contractor details, expected lifetime, and purpose classifications that require human judgment. This makes it an essential complement to the SATCAT and TLE datasets for any comprehensive analysis of the space environment.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `satellite_name` | string | Name of the satellite |
| `country_registry` | string | Country/organization of UN registry |
| `operator` | string | Satellite operator/owner |
| `users` | string | User category (civil, commercial, government, military) |
| `purpose` | string | Primary purpose |
| `detailed_purpose` | string | Detailed purpose description |
| `orbit_class` | string | Orbit class (LEO, MEO, GEO, Elliptical) |
| `orbit_type` | string | Orbit type |
| `perigee_km` | float64 | Perigee altitude (km) |
| `apogee_km` | float64 | Apogee altitude (km) |
| `inclination_deg` | float64 | Orbital inclination (degrees) |
| `period_minutes` | float64 | Orbital period (minutes) |
| `launch_mass_kg` | float64 | Launch mass (kg) |
| `launch_date` | string | Date of launch |
| `norad_id` | float64 | NORAD catalog number |
| `cospar_id` | string | COSPAR designation |

## Quick stats

- **7,560** active satellites
- **69** countries/organizations
- **31** purpose categories
- Orbit classes: LEO (6,767), GEO (590), MEO (143), Elliptical (59), LEo (1)

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Satellites by orbit class
print(df["orbit_class"].value_counts())

# Communications satellites
comms = df[df["purpose"].str.contains("Communications", na=False)]
print(f"{len(comms):,} communications satellites")

# Satellites by country
by_country = df["country_registry"].value_counts().head(10)
print(by_country)
```

## Data source

[Union of Concerned Scientists Satellite Database](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database).

## Update schedule

Quarterly (1st of the month at 06:00 UTC) via [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets).

## Related datasets

- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat) -- NORAD Satellite Catalog
- [satnogs-transmitters](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/satnogs-transmitters) -- SatNOGS Transmitter Database

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Support

If you find this dataset useful, please give it a ❤️ on the [dataset page](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database) and share feedback in the Community tab! Also consider giving a ⭐️ to the [space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets) repo.

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{ucs_satellite_database,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {UCS Satellite Database},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database},
note = {Based on the Union of Concerned Scientists Satellite Database}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "UCS卫星数据库（UCS Satellite Database）"
language:
- en
description: "本数据集为忧思科学家联盟（Union of Concerned Scientists, UCS）维护的现役卫星综合数据库，涵盖轨道参数、任务用途与权属信息，每季度更新一次。"
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- satellite
- orbit
- ucs
- launch
- open-data
- tabular-data
- parquet
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/ucs_satellite_database.parquet
default: true
---

# UCS卫星数据库（UCS Satellite Database）

*本数据集隶属于Hugging Face平台的[轨道力学数据集合集（Orbital Mechanics Datasets）](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994)。*


忧思科学家联盟（Union of Concerned Scientists, UCS）卫星数据库是目前公开可得的最全面的在轨卫星数据库，当前已追踪来自69个国家/组织的7560颗现役卫星，涵盖31个任务用途类别。

## 数据集说明

UCS卫星数据库自2005年起开始维护，大致每季度更新一次。数据库包含每颗在轨卫星的详细信息：卫星名称、联合国登记国、运营方、任务用途（包括通信、地球观测、导航、科学研究、技术开发等）、轨道参数、发射详情以及物理特性。

UCS数据库的独特价值在于其聚焦于每颗卫星背后的“动因”，而非仅追踪其“位置”。北美防空司令部（North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD）的SATCAT目录仅追踪轨道参数，TLE（两行轨道根数, Two-Line Element）目录仅提供星历数据，而UCS数据库则补充了人文层面的信息：每颗卫星的运营方、任务内容、出资方以及服务领域。这使其成为研究太空军事化的政策研究者、分析卫星通信市场的经济学家以及报道日益壮大的商业航天产业的记者的首选数据源。该数据库区分了民用、商业、政府及军事用户，并将任务用途从宽带通信、气象监测到信号情报进行了详细分类。

该数据库覆盖了所有轨道类型下的在轨卫星全谱系。近地轨道（Low Earth Orbit, LEO，高度低于2000公里）卫星包括地球观测平台、宽带巨型星座以及科学探测任务。中地球轨道（Medium Earth Orbit, MEO）部署有GPS、伽利略等导航星座。地球静止轨道（Geostationary Earth Orbit, GEO，高度35786公里）卫星则承担通信中继、气象监测与早期预警等任务。莫尼亚（Molniya）与冻原（Tundra）等高椭圆轨道可为俄罗斯等国家提供高纬度区域覆盖。发射质量、干质量与功率输出等物理参数可用于划分卫星能力等级，从1公斤级的立方体卫星（CubeSat）到6000公斤级的GEO通信平台均有涵盖。

由于UCS数据库由分析师人工编纂而非自动从追踪数据生成，因此其包含了所有轨道目录无法提供的上下文信息——承包商详情、预期寿命以及需要人工判断的用途分类。这使其成为SATCAT与TLE数据集的必要补充，可用于开展任何全面的太空环境分析。

## 数据模式

| 列名 | 数据类型 | 说明 |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `"satellite_name"` | string | 卫星名称 |
| `"country_registry"` | string | 联合国登记国家/组织 |
| `"operator"` | string | 卫星运营方/权属方 |
| `"users"` | string | 用户类别（民用、商业、政府、军事） |
| `"purpose"` | string | 主要任务用途 |
| `"detailed_purpose"` | string | 详细任务用途说明 |
| `"orbit_class"` | string | 轨道类别（LEO、MEO、GEO、椭圆轨道） |
| `"orbit_type"` | string | 轨道类型 |
| `"perigee_km"` | float64 | 近地点高度（公里） |
| `"apogee_km"` | float64 | 远地点高度（公里） |
| `"inclination_deg"` | float64 | 轨道倾角（度） |
| `"period_minutes"` | float64 | 轨道周期（分钟） |
| `"launch_mass_kg"` | float64 | 发射质量（公斤） |
| `"launch_date"` | string | 发射日期 |
| `"norad_id"` | float64 | 北美防空司令部目录编号（NORAD Catalog ID） |
| `"cospar_id"` | string | 国际空间研究委员会编号（Committee on Space Research, COSPAR） |

## 快速统计数据

- **7560**颗现役卫星
- **69**个国家/组织
- **31**个任务用途类别
- 轨道类别：近地轨道（LEO，6767颗）、地球静止轨道（GEO，590颗）、中地球轨道（MEO，143颗）、椭圆轨道（59颗）、近地轨道（LEO，1颗）

## 使用方法

python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# 按轨道类别统计卫星数量
print(df["orbit_class"].value_counts())

# 筛选通信卫星并统计数量
comms = df[df["purpose"].str.contains("Communications", na=False)]
print(f"{len(comms):,} 颗通信卫星")

# 按国家统计卫星数量（取前10）
by_country = df["country_registry"].value_counts().head(10)
print(by_country)

## 数据源

[忧思科学家联盟卫星数据库](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database)。

## 更新计划

每季度更新一次（每月1日06:00 UTC），更新流程通过[GitHub Actions](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)执行。

## 相关数据集

- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat)——北美防空司令部卫星目录（NORAD Satellite Catalog）
- [satnogs-transmitters](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/satnogs-transmitters)——SatNOGS发射机数据库（SatNOGS Transmitter Database）

## 数据流水线

源代码：[juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## 支持与反馈

如果您认为本数据集具有实用价值，请前往[数据集页面](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database)为其点赞❤️，并在社区标签页分享您的反馈！同时欢迎为[space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)仓库点亮⭐️。

## 引用格式

bibtex
@dataset{ucs_satellite_database,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {UCS Satellite Database},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ucs-satellite-database},
note = {基于忧思科学家联盟卫星数据库制作}
}

## 许可证

[CC-BY-4.0（知识共享署名4.0许可协议）](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)