Celestrak vs Spaceflight News
A side-by-side look at the Celestrak and Spaceflight News MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Celestrak for aerospace & astrodynamics work as a local process; choose Spaceflight News for aerospace & astrodynamics as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Celestrak when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Aerospace & Astrodynamics domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
get_satellite, search_by_name, get_group.
Choose Spaceflight News when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Aerospace & Astrodynamics domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_articles, get_article, latest_reports.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Aerospace & Astrodynamics | Aerospace & Astrodynamics |
| Quality signal | 59/100 · Good | 44/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 4 |
| Full listing | View Celestrak | View Spaceflight News |
Tools & capabilities
Celestrak tools 3
get_satelliteGet satellite orbital elements (TLE / GP data) for a single object by NORAD catalog ID. Returns orbital parameters: inclination, eccentricity, mean motion, RAAN, argument of perigee, epoch, and derived orbital period in minutes. norad_id 25544 = ISS, 20580 = Hubble. This is the orbital catalog, not live position tracking.search_by_nameSearch the satellite catalog by name substring and return matching orbital elements (TLE / GP data). e.g. "STARLINK", "NOAA", "GPS". Returns up to 50 matches with orbital parameters (inclination, eccentricity, period). Catalog/orbital data, not live tracking.get_groupList orbital elements (TLE / GP data) for an entire CelesTrak group — e.g. the Starlink, GPS, or weather satellite catalog. Groups: "stations", "starlink", "gps-ops", "weather", "science", "geo", "active". Returns up to 100 satellites with orbital parameters (inclination, eccentricity, period). Catalog/orbital data, not live tracking.
Spaceflight News tools 4
search_articlesFull-text search spaceflight news articles aggregated from dozens of sources (Spaceflight Now, NASASpaceflight, NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, ESA, and more). Filter by source, publish date, and featured status. Newest first. Keyless.get_articleGet a single spaceflight news article by its numeric id, with the full untruncated summary plus any associated launches and events. Keyless.latest_reportsLatest long-form spaceflight mission reports (longer than standard news articles), newest first. Keyless.list_sourcesList every news source the Spaceflight News API aggregates, plus the API version. Use the names to filter search_articles by news_site. Keyless.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Celestrak
{
"mcpServers": {
"celestrak": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-celestrak"
]
}
}
}
Spaceflight News
{
"mcpServers": {
"spaceflight-news": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-spaceflight-news"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Celestrak is categorized under Aerospace & Astrodynamics and uses a local stdio subprocess. Spaceflight News belongs to Aerospace & Astrodynamics and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Celestrak for aerospace & astrodynamics work and Spaceflight News for aerospace & astrodynamics.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Celestrak has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Spaceflight News has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add celestrak and spaceflight-news as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Celestrak has a quality signal of 59/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Spaceflight News has 44/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.