TLE API

Free to Use
57 C
Measured Score 0 50 100 Speed 1/30 Consistency 17/20 Security 20/20 Browser access 15/15 Transparency 4/15 TESTED 2026-08-10

Overview

The TLE API provides up-to-date orbital data for satellites currently orbiting Earth, sourced from NORAD datasets. Each satellite entry includes its TLE data, name, and satellite catalog number, which you can use with orbital mechanics libraries to calculate a satellite current position. It is free and requires no authentication, making it a great starting point for space and satellite tracking projects.

Beginner Tip

TLE data contains the orbital parameters needed to predict a satellite position. Feed the returned line1 and line2 strings into a library like satellite.js in JavaScript or sgp4 in Python to calculate where the satellite is right now.

Measurement Record

What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.

Request
GET https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS
Result
HTTP 200 · application/json · 6,801 bytes
Response time
1694 ms (median of 3) · fastest 1613 ms
Transport
TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 · certificate issued by Let's Encrypt
Browser CORS
Allowed — Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Served by
Apache
Recorded
2026-08-10

Fields Returned

Top-level fields present in the response we captured, with the type and value we actually received.

Field Type Value received
@context string (url) https://www.w3.org/ns/hydra/context.jsonld
@id string (url) https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/
@type string Tle[]
totalItems integer 30
member array [1 item]
parameters object {5 fields}
view object {5 fields}

Captured Response

Captured from a real request to https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.

JSON Response · Captured
{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/hydra/context.jsonld",
  "@id": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/",
  "@type": "Tle[]",
  "totalItems": 30,
  "member": [
    {
      "@id": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/25544",
      "@type": "Tle",
      "satelliteId": 25544,
      "name": "ISS (ZARYA)",
      "date": "2026-08-09T20:37:29+00:00",
      "line1": "1 25544U 98067A   26221.85937483  .00004201  00000+0  83247-4 0  9994",
      "line2": "2 25544  51.6326  34.4681 0007373  30.2451 329.8962 15.49397757580072"
    }
  ],
  "parameters": {
    "search": "ISS",
    "sort": "popularity",
    "sort-dir": "desc",
    "page": 1,
    "page-size": 20
  },
  "view": {
    "@id": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS&page=1",
    "@type": "PartialCollectionView",
    "first": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS&page=1",
    "next": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS&page=2",
    "last": "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/?search=ISS&page=2"
  }
}

Field Reference

satelliteId NORAD catalog number uniquely identifying the satellite.
name Official name of the satellite.
date ISO 8601 date when this TLE data was generated or last updated.
line1 First line of the Two-Line Element set containing epoch and orbital decay data.
line2 Second line of the TLE set containing inclination, eccentricity, and other orbital elements.

Implementation Example

Request skeleton. The URL below is this API's documentation page, not a live endpoint — swap in the path you need from the provider's docs before running it.

Request
const url = "https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

How This API Fails

We deliberately sent this API a broken request and recorded exactly what came back on 2026-08-10. Knowing the shape of an error before you hit it makes error handling much easier to write.

HTTP 404 Requesting a path that does not exist application/json
{
  "response": {
    "message": "No route found for \"GET https://tle.ivanstanojevic.me/api/tle/apisscore-nonexistent-path\""
  }
}

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

Empty member array The search term did not match any known satellite names.
Try broader search terms — use ISS for the International Space Station or the NORAD catalog number directly in the URL as /api/tle/{id}.
Outdated TLE data producing inaccurate position TLE data becomes less accurate as satellites drift from predicted orbits over time.
Check the date field on each TLE entry and discard data older than a few days; refresh from the API daily for accurate tracking.
404 Not Found for specific satellite ID The satellite catalog number does not exist in the dataset or the satellite has deorbited.
Verify the NORAD catalog number at celestrak.org before requesting, or use the search endpoint to find the correct ID.

Measured Score Breakdown

Live HTTP request to the API endpoint

Speed 1/30
Consistency 17/20
Security 20/20
Browser access 15/15
Transparency 4/15
Endpoint Response Time 1694ms

Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS NO
Category Science & Math
Difficulty Beginner
Endpoint last called: 2026-08-10

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