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Tracking emissions from rocket launches and artificial object re-entries

Welcome to this global dataset and interactive explorer covering rocket launch and spacecraft re-entry emissions since the first orbital launch in 1957. The tracker is built on rigorous scientific research, supporting further investigation and regulation of a rapidly growing industry.

1957–2025
Years of launch & re-entry data
7
Emitted chemicals tracked
Global
Coverage of launch sites & re-entries

Click on the links below to view launch or re-entry emissions. ⬇️

Launch Emissions

Filter emissions by launch site, vehicle, mission type and altitude across nearly seven decades of orbital launches.

Explore launches →

Re-entry Emissions

Track the emissions from spacecraft and debris burning up on re-entry, object type and mission.

Explore re-entries →

Why it matters

An emerging, poorly-quantified source of emissions

As launch cadence accelerates and megaconstellations grow, rocket exhaust and re-entry burn-up are an increasingly significant and poorly understood source of atmospheric pollutants. This tracker makes the underlying data explorable, filterable and downloadable.

Developed by

University College London (UCL)

Connor Barker and Eloise Marais (UCL), in collaboration with Jonathan McDowell (Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), with funding from the European Research Council (Horizon 2020, grant 851854) and UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) award administered by UCL Innovation and Enterprise.