Same three questions asked of both catalogues. Differences are expected — they count
slightly different things and update on different schedules.
Operator-grade
Latest conjunction messages (CDMs)
Space-Track's public CDM feed — the screening results operators actually act on.
Why they differ
Reading the gap
The numbers won't match — and that's normal
Different populations. Space-Track counts every catalogued object still on orbit (payloads, rocket
bodies and debris); NAZAR's CelesTrak bundle is trimmed to active payloads, so it reads much lower.
Different clocks. Space-Track publishes continuously; NAZAR's CelesTrak snapshots refresh on a
schedule, so one can lag the other by hours.
Different screening. Space-Track CDMs use high-precision orbits not released publicly;
CelesTrak SOCRATES screens the public TLEs — same physics, coarser inputs.
Naming and attribution lag. New launches can sit un-named or mis-flagged in either catalogue for
days (see the catalogue-gap panel on Sat-Stats).
⚙ Space-Track feed not connected yet
The daily Space-Track pull runs in GitHub Actions and needs your login stored as encrypted
repository secrets — it is never placed in the website's code.
Open the repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
Add SPACETRACK_USER (your Space-Track email) and SPACETRACK_PASSWORD
Run the “Refresh Space-Track + CelesTrak summaries” workflow once (Actions tab → Run workflow)
It then refreshes automatically every day, and this page fills in.
