<p>SPICE kernels are available for many NASA (and other missions).  <a href="https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">A large collection</a> is available from NAIF.  As well as some <a href="https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/data_archived.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">archived datasets</a>.  These can be processed using the <a href="https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/toolkit.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SPICE</a> toolkit, which is available for several programming languages directly from NAIF.  Additional 3rd party libraries like <a href="https://github.com/AndrewAnnex/SpiceyPy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SpiceyPy</a> are also available.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-01T20:22:32.010Z
2023-08-01T20:22:32.010Z
Greg Miller
<blockquote>
<p>Does a publicly accessible website/API exist that provides the current coordinates for such objects?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes! There's a pre-launch planning trajectory from ISRO/JPLNAV in the <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Horizons</a> system. Chandrayaan-3 has ID number -158. It's classed as a major body, so we can use it as an observation centre, not just a target. There's some info <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&amp;MAKE_EPHEM=NO&amp;COMMAND=-158" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<p>This preliminary trajectory covers from 2023-Jul-14 09:23 to 2023-Sep-13 09:00. The data on Horizons will be updated as the mission proceeds, but not in real time.</p>
<p>Here's a view looking from above (north) of the ecliptic plane, from 2023-Jul-15 0:00 UTC, using a 1 hour time step. Earth is blue, the Moon is yellow, the spacecraft is red. The grey line is the X axis, which points towards the First Point of Aries (the equinox point). The plotted points are connected with cubic Bézier curves, using the normalised velocity vectors to compute Bézier control points. </p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/OSSTJ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/OSSTJ.png" alt="Earth, Moon, Chandrayaan-3" /></a></p>
<p>This trajectory has a significant component in the north-south axis:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/P3AeS.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/P3AeS.png" alt="Side-on view showing N-S component" /></a></p>
<p>These are screenshots from this <a href="https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?z=eJydWP1y4kYS_99VvMOsvIkkVpb5MMmFKtUF23LFiQ0UkE32MKUSMBg5QqMdjfBX8UD3HPdi1z0zAoG9uaqj1qDp6e75TX9rDcMgAyp4RNeUrOlMME7moQjJgrMV-YXx6IUlGVkAmSWUwM-KcUpEyO-pIFM2j2hWOSLw4TQORQRaBCNhQtg0o3wNFJaQGU0E5Q6Q50QsaTKjJI2ZwGciePggj90qihLSvCR5FiX35Pw__36JKCeznK9p5pLKkeL5g0dC0IRMn0n_ljQGyNuoNRpu7Ue3Xq8cGXAt5I1WKeMCsDnw9zWnmYBD5NUWeQKnsjgjmifmeTALZ0uqGSKAvMeQcjbPZ0LqzXlMPGIshUiz9ulpls3dhzR2kzAL3Xu2Pg3T6HSpjRcsopi6QDEqR_AdrCnP0CogX3drCuc0zGgwW82RaADfbec3P_D7v_i33hd_WDnqnf8aXHZGHa_bqxwN_Ktg-GU4gs3ri8FV5UgyBqMvfd_77F-MegOQgIdg1Dm_8b1G5egDri56gwHId321edM592-GUqHcvvRvRp1gpAi930fB793r0dD77fbksnJ0MfwcXPUGt52RwlPY9-et1axV-JRFL9SLEmE1arZdOZrTBVlQMVsGGFGWihlnGw1pHCbglwzoAn9Yit80tdvKx8ocC2mPi97tbad76ZmvSsvGBJrfHfkDICmFSELL9G86XR-oUj0Sh6POYBSMrm-RKk9T1F5_R2Spovn9YHj9L0WjkiaPL8P58PHjsHf1CsvNa-G2DRD93pXmPE45GgHodpEaX0G0CEA3ZZmwIIIcmWneqwnZtQqF2SamoE_C3DgEQyaDnShJc9ywTNBmOgjC3mituzji1M1oyGdLixud_jX57A-G171u-y6rWnfDqm3I6HdRue3ec5anVl0riRZbPR88UgpP7QT8qOssjD9CnkCitQmeUUhFGXnVz4B7mmNWAy2b8SgVuIul47WkeGPY2zReHYC3_pnZdx_vwMC-5Vblo9_zy_C3qFeouws16Q1Qo9sjMiP8wfXQsA-3D1Qp_4icJ1KbIsoK6JHV1ljjenuyRX38riJNNb8jJqmSs5omx1FCM-V9ye1maRwJSbU0i4Z9lxjuA4sSS26OW-16a2LvbMUhm95YK7Ih5P2B373wydWgc-sTyBJy0esNLq-7nZE_lGbMqsPn1ZTFZEVD9ODfxIPGMqALymWhvuLhipK2FFls41naS1oJ4WGigy4ezoRKdfxyCOQpLiGQr8I4o0Vea-PizzvG0LvjTO1ZpmPa4_ZJfSIDKcPugCwTbXQkcvZYkNuFk9njznKQbw4R90Lmm3TGeOLoP8VxqGUXGhBp22uUyBoptKQwTWkyh-x4BQXj-mRDXhcxCyWEcW1ib8oReEx8ZSbEFMne-D1kUsxmkXguxSNAAZBKT25LeDmCQ52N9mRSimm2haC6tzy33ZzYpWPh7u8wNdsT202w9MRQt-eWve_dQ6uhNY_JeR7Fc3JOS11Z-X9KX6xCpPA0rANYwl1eonS3qzdrsKrBXgKhY2nWAoIyQFrTN1UHScftHAbtQqBRtGjJO8gZTjMrJSdwjE1OSXPPuC6ciMaAA8gnAFEFYMgr5MOkZDk9d2jjYVS98VLZGcWVENqeMfUFlA0vefhIQhxypuzJIY-RWBKWyoigZMZ4AoUS9r8nU2Xax4jTAFgtyKmpQ6rVvx4LC68RQVVPJlYVzYxMtq1R9WEf06sJl12PI5VEEVrNqjl1p-k0nJo90ToLkU_flDlzWs6Pzg_O2XsyWb6ytJzQu1JUOgmRrcftM5Bbj8_ak4Ng66tpIsJGDumh7r0KoRgim2zangEDXvPk1zw-qbcMNTBo2pCmJ_WmocYHz6jPDQfF1FzgGc2ffoI9NThksKzVHQI6_qG40jCmMEt6xjTOYRx5pnHMHrHaaS1yjgAzDmmscmds-rMYmls0g4ZsyvqID-ds_kz8r3kIPCZcM9P8gXhOqWfycB4x01bAMBq8Ecfz5gwwqUc5PrUcEodTGgfyLi3Jv8AzCv6Q_6UfU4iTFM6AoVtVWJiwc8GCPMWMLYrutgxCKUtg6LbwRBzkJQr7bftUFyUhjMQ0zISa-xdkT8x42z2LY4rx7s1cBzZUe24G7xupZWue8pKl5RXdrsqqQY_5swmJq5fFwdrBunkouV3T0LulrqJTRPv_G2J6tyy26yuc4auLmsHMkjdMtHVpTSh4gpjwErFk9zxMlxA6GvOSrvBoE90qxfBB88fR_VKYu7GD9GE6EDJMNAC8LC5h4KjTH949VW7vVFyAzbgWZ_we5KEQEPxn7ypGiudAGgODjsoUCuOMxYx72iDY2rZq0VoPDtlN-Mhpo_lokq8gowW1sABoHziFVXGqsssRqJv___PSsNeypZ638-EuWve4H4jnkZp8O92lHo7DtQPZt4PE3049mKUlXOiObyoM_pcylc1bkxcXhaQ80ClrceFBecCBB5V39tTInH5Pz1Q2elC01973NR1i2tnwPY3YJXDwBJ2Rg41ywRIhERpPJxnMInG5tqiPbEDYovciCuCM2-3daeVh-VswtqP2De5mb98OdlP4GEa6qN3ctMlrtjHKkDScbB-OdNMBoDKkKXRwcHLfnbI8mcMULlt68fJA_vyiYrvUUPH_SMBMkJzVsWztVdRhT8btxqRwgXEchiF0N5aGOEN6NbfR2uocLSn59CcJn6Lsnd4us9tClTC2Qj7rMlBS3Wq1jN0bl-xCJVtKZdvZRGLbit5zSpPSi17fzZbs0VKNTPcqWfs8-e2Uaqm3e4RrJYhWZdJ_AfyvZ3A=&amp;lang=sage" rel="nofollow noreferrer">interactive 3D plot</a>.
There's some info on how to use that plotting script <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/49823/16685">here</a>.</p>
<p>Note that you can set the Moon (ID 301) as the center. I recommend a start time of Aug-10, and you should probably toggle off the <code>curve</code> plotting.</p>
<hr />
<p>FWIW, here's a <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&amp;EPHEM_TYPE=V&amp;OUT_UNITS=KM-S&amp;REF_PLANE=E&amp;VEC_LABELS=NO&amp;CSV_FORMAT=YES&amp;OBJ_DATA=NO&amp;VEC_TABLE=2&amp;COMMAND=-158&amp;CENTER=%40399&amp;START_TIME=%272023-Jul-14+9%3A30+UTC%27&amp;STOP_TIME=%272023-Sep-13+8%3A00%27&amp;STEP_SIZE=1d" rel="nofollow noreferrer">query URL</a> which returns the position &amp; velocity vectors (in the J2000.0 ecliptic frame), using a 1 day time step.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-15T03:18:40.277Z
This is a great answer, I will try to use the Horizons data (via astroquery: https://astroquery.readthedocs.io/en/latest/jplhorizons/jplhorizons.html) to attempt to photograph it today :) I will not yet mark it as answer though in case anyone has info on *live* tracking data
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-15T03:43:42.640Z
@2080 Glad you like it. Astroquery is good, but it's pretty easy to construct Horizons queries & parse the results yourself.
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-15T03:55:31.010Z
@uhoh Ah, right. :) BTW, vector tables use TDB by default, but you can put `UTC` or `TT` after the start time to request a different time scale.
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-16T12:36:46.303Z
Thanks to you, we now have this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7LAFiUXLMo :)
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-17T00:53:53.390Z
@2080 That's pretty cool! Perhaps you can post it as a GIF (at a slower frame rate), either here or on https://space.stackexchange.com The Stack Exchange image uploader accepts GIF, but it has a file size limit of 2 MB.
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-17T08:24:22.963Z
Uploaded here: https://deeprandomsurvey.org/static/img/Chandrayaan-3.gif
In the meantime I have found this SkyTrack software which can continuously track from JPL Horizons Ephemerides as well: https://heavenscape.com/videos.html
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-01T12:23:30.960Z
We observed it two more times, last just now on its lunar transfer trajectory: https://deeprandomsurvey.org/ - thank you very much for your answer and for the code that helps us visualize the orbits!
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-01T12:25:22.973Z
Here is my adapted code that colors a segment: https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?q=exuezf
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-01T12:55:56.757Z
Ah, good to know! I'll add the permalink to my question
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-14T15:55:35.303Z
2023-07-15T03:50:10.133Z
2023-07-15T03:50:10.133Z
PM 2Ring
<p>Just a few hours ago the moon-bound spacecraft <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2382565-indias-chandrayaan-3-launches-to-explore-moons-water-rich-south-pole/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chandrayaan-3</a> was launched.</p>
<p>While it will orbit Earth <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-3#/media/File:Animation_of_Chandrayaan-3_around_Earth.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer">for a few days</a>, it is accelerating/changing its orbit often to prepare for the transfer to a lunar orbit, so its coordinates (especially from a specific location on Earth's surface) are very unpredictable.</p>
<p>Neither an orbital element approach nor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-line_element_set" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TLE</a>s will work here reliably unless they are updated very frequently (the latter only seem to work for earth-orbiting satellites anyway).</p>
<p>In the future, there will probably exist more moon-orbiting spacecraft like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Gateway" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lunar Gateway</a> which will also change its orbit often. Does a publicly accessible website/API exist that provides the current coordinates for such objects?</p>
<p>In this case it seems ESA's Estrack network is supporting the tracking of this probe, but it doesn't seem like they have a public API: <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_ground_stations_support_Chandrayaan-3_Moon_mission" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_ground_stations_support_Chandrayaan-3_Moon_mission</a></p>
<p>Edit: <a href="https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?z=eJydGGtT20jyO1X8h4lYVpIjFD8g2VWd6taAqLAL2GV7s5tzXCrZHmMlsqSMRhCg-EH3O-6PXffM6OEHSdWSYEv9nn5NN5qmkQHlLKR3lNzRGU8YmQc8IAuWrMj7hIWPSZyRBYCTmBL4WiWMEh6wW8rJNJmHNNvfI_DDaBTwEKTwhAQxSaYZZXcASWIyozGnzALwnPAljWeUpFHC8ZlwFnwWaktBYUw65yTPwviWnP7vv48hZWSWszua2WR_T9L8xULOaUymD6R_TdoDpG032227-c5utSRNMA9STudIc5eE82Mk6JDf84i03u7vaXBwlBau0oRxsN6C3685zTiYIQ6_yGOwK4kyomgilvuzYLakiiCEQ60RpCyZ5zOu0OBGysMVLbDFu0XwE9xKUX_OIuISbcl5mjlv3mTZ3P6cRnYcZIF9m9y9CdLwzVKFwV-EEbUBou3vwad_R1mG_gX-lt2U55kGGfVnqzkCNaC77v7h-V7_vXftfvSG-3u909_98-6o69709vcG3oU__DgcAfLybHCxvycI_dHHvud-8M5GvQFwwIM_6p5eeW57f-8Vvp31BgPgv_Ek8qp76l0NhUCBPveuRl1_JAG9P0f-nzeXo6H7x_XR-f7e2fCDf9EbXHdH0p4iDr-V3jVWwbcsfKRuGHOj3TTN_b05XZAF5bOlj7lpyOyzyrxKoyAGt2YA5_iVpPhJU9ORmSDdsRD-OOtdX3dvzl39SUp51gHm3Yy8AYCkQAShZ_pX3RsPoEI8Aoej7mDkjy6vESq0SWivXwGTVMK8vj-8_I-EUQET6uvmvPrpp2Hv4glen5-KsD0D0OtdKMqDlKETAG4WRfYVWItEtdMk4wZkkCVq1n3SoU5XAdcdonP6jevPFsGUyQATxmmOCEMHabqFRpjPSmqVR4zaGQ3YbGkwrdu_JB-8wfCyd-N8yhrGp2HD1ESV2CjctG9ZkqdGSwkJF6WcVy6ppacKAv7I4yy0vwIWQ8k6BHUUXGFGntQz2D3NsT8ALJuxMOWIxSb0VBP8rJllQ1htGG_8OzM__fQJHOwZdkM8ej2vbn5p9Qpl30A5bhmq3fSIqAhvcDnUzE30higZH56zWEiTQNFLXbIqnTVuOZPS6oOdghRUPyQ6aZDjpgJHYUwzGX1BbWdpFHIBNdY5tU-xZn9OwtgQ2PGJ0zqZmJWzGJTTlrtCE3LeG3g3Zx65GHSvPQJlQs56vcH55U135A2FH7PG8GE1TSKyogGG8DsJoWwZ0AVloudfsAC6oSNYFmVCC4cJN6F5WOkgiwUzLmsdPywChYqvkMkXQZRBrcP14osKdNHX8p3Gc_FWlL3yPX7t8JXCjjOJM3RLN8fOUWsi8izDawhJJsqzCGTJfQF2ihxI7iu_CoN8MEVqFd3ezjhL8cEoTbaIdvjx6HB6dDgnh--dw2vNtBmFLjOjBn8M40XiFjeEnfOZshdO913RgP9nglW0kgwuplsuWgmF51kSJQzVjSdW7VdSb3qjqgAoqDJYNbDyONzhQZqCqdAEnkDAuDV5Jk-LKAmEK8fNiflcLzRxcJkOFJumZFER0wikUtsct0uArZkgYp29qAmvECMSUMixKtkbOuEUVTBxbCm8j88V5l-7glHK3AqHczj8QURQolK14TxxcYiQFB7UGJ1v-QqK48eMDzSKkvs67wFR7sE8CMXQ9jM05iiZhfyh1t4g5JAQMl65KdIgxyRAf7adSc31IKfQJ8dKEV-nMzFraiHfdhB1nIlpx3iTRTAGzA1zvVe8kKlYhAfkNA-jOTmltalRNpUpfTQKzqJBwLsPr3CkxzCtsArZhLcm4GIIqKFIC0ukH9Ii16QiUStVfcAQwtE3irUWFqQMppmRkiNQY5I3pLPmYxs0ok9AAXkNRjTAMKTl4mFSc6Cai5UPsRltBasek-JIaNqaT9UBpA_PWXBPAhzCp8k3i9yHfEmSVCQGBWezGK5fwP9MptK19yGjPpAa0KinFmk0vtwXHr5DCxpqLjYa6GYkMk1lVR_w2JU7cNi7cSh7b4heM5pWy-pYbatpTpTMguX1izzH1on1znprHe_iyfKVofi4wgpWESS07G7sHAPf3fjYmWzkXF_OqCGOhwFO-HjuVQA3LJLJi0jD_eII9ouj1jvS_MVpNjU5jK5jWscFhgKmtdLql9k6ZdNpnmjV3baObDnNjmahejm1ulrn11-BWo61masdtU5-kQRpEFFYl1xtGuVwV8ryx1t4rvA44EIkhjSSVTjWvVkEU1c4g0lRF_c2Ppwm8wfifc0DoNHBU5mi9_lDSl2dBfMw0U1pEyaUO2Kob57w8t4Wg_2JRaJgSiNf-KDTFBwL1FJwBOyLekwh2VLQAptlISPIeeLnKVa_BJlOeQVD445hszRQJ26rwg5ze7KTRyUBbHU0yLhcbhdkjU3bHuwKNcXmsbVy1IJZBg48K-nxjoA8MxVf_TVJ62-09lbKWweB3AJQNwl06b_p0DXUa2Gwygo18Ei-atBR2NokpOpTZc4LbApbZysVQs3jXi_XCr0WRR1jVHsXdxbRYUNeJrcsSJeQdMrmJV2hah3TQbDhg6KPwtsl16tJmvRh3uUiv5QBeFh8hRm6Rd_u1CrQlYgz8BlT7Am7BX7oQgT_m1W7SlEP9BAgUOmcFneQqxyCY0wpFr312SLV0oqUJrqPxvkK2gmnBnYfFQOr8CouCmY9c9XA-k_24LXxTMjZXnmqLF-j_kxclzTF3FPVLG54zQ3elwfI787zssqrDrhdPq76rp1ix5hTqffh_4-0bm0R31FbRrLwH_SIDeXifikSQ1iykRgy6GtiRIvZkIO5IkjFJoU5klFY_4UjzR1zndA7FcMOKMYRZ5wKIV-sdD3DwChTaBWyxl8mrlspwsH-BT6ceV7mM9fOJ2Bb7qqyZpfT8FLG5RHMF5EZh42KYcegz2qQFg7766O_haPNIom58L_27SiDITLanJKlo0McqjadNHacmv7aznyw6ygHIvOKnfsK0VmhbB2n9vExrD2h03l2yFP2rNUIS5OydZOkU9aNqpslnZguYcU2oFnBP1Ml37HdfkuPTooICWTLXNv5pjC0QaX07WmSx3PY5sUUV9r_90fZUWqa8M-2ECpoiY2xmOYaKMOcjJ32pNCkHQRBgGNLGuD24Dbt9kkpc7Sk5PXfJPgWZjvGOdFTDRQJ25kIp2i-NdEnJyeFgyEgYmaopZUQVo6jwraS9ZZRGtf-YtS3s2Vyb8ixQ_UDceO44tOq3WBu9QjHitFa0bfM_wO739BS&amp;lang=sage&amp;interacts=eJyLjgUAARUAuQ==" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Permalink</a> to the code I adapted from PM 2Ring below, to color observed orbit segments</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-14T15:10:51.840Z
JPL have a pre-launch planning trajectory  https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&MAKE_EPHEM=NO&COMMAND=-158 Let me see what it looks like...
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-14T15:50:03.770Z
NASA also sometimes publishes SPICE kernels with the trajectory.
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-15T15:31:13.080Z
Chandrayaan-3 has a NORAD ID: 57320 and you can track the live location of it here https://www.n2yo.com/?s=57320&live=1
Dima Chubarov
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-16T11:12:23.453Z
@DimaChubarov This doesn't seem to match up with the JPL Horizons data - with which I apparently just managed to image it - what is their data source?
2080
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-16T13:16:25.283Z
At the bottom of the page they refer in particular to Celestrak from which TLEs can be obtained as follows: http://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/gp.php?CATNR=57320
Dima Chubarov
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-16T13:28:52.097Z
Hmmm. I don't think TLE's will work here at least in the long term because they are only intended for Earth-orbiting spacecraft. Also, since it is often accelerating to raise its orbit, the TLE is probably out of date because of this
2080
<coordinate><satellite><tracker>
How can non-earth-orbiting satellite coordinates be obtained by amateurs?
2080
# How can non-earth-orbiting satellite coordinates be obtained by amateurs?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-14)

Just a few hours ago the moon-bound spacecraft [Chandrayaan-3](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2382565-indias-chandrayaan-3-launches-to-explore-moons-water-rich-south-pole/) was launched.

While it will orbit Earth [for a few days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-3#/media/File:Animation_of_Chandrayaan-3_around_Earth.gif), it is accelerating/changing its orbit often to prepare for the transfer to a lunar orbit, so its coordinates (especially from a specific location on Earth's surface) are very unpredictable.

Neither an orbital element approach nor [TLE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-line_element_set)s will work here reliably unless they are updated very frequently (the latter only seem to work for earth-orbiting satellites anyway).

In the future, there will probably exist more moon-orbiting spacecraft like the [Lunar Gateway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Gateway) which will also change its orbit often. Does a publicly accessible website/API exist that provides the current coordinates for such objects?

In this case it seems ESA's Estrack network is supporting the tracking of this probe, but it doesn't seem like they have a public API: <https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_ground_stations_support_Chandrayaan-3_Moon_mission>

Edit: [Permalink](https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?z=eJydGGtT20jyO1X8h4lYVpIjFD8g2VWd6taAqLAL2GV7s5tzXCrZHmMlsqSMRhCg-EH3O-6PXffM6OEHSdWSYEv9nn5NN5qmkQHlLKR3lNzRGU8YmQc8IAuWrMj7hIWPSZyRBYCTmBL4WiWMEh6wW8rJNJmHNNvfI_DDaBTwEKTwhAQxSaYZZXcASWIyozGnzALwnPAljWeUpFHC8ZlwFnwWaktBYUw65yTPwviWnP7vv48hZWSWszua2WR_T9L8xULOaUymD6R_TdoDpG032227-c5utSRNMA9STudIc5eE82Mk6JDf84i03u7vaXBwlBau0oRxsN6C3685zTiYIQ6_yGOwK4kyomgilvuzYLakiiCEQ60RpCyZ5zOu0OBGysMVLbDFu0XwE9xKUX_OIuISbcl5mjlv3mTZ3P6cRnYcZIF9m9y9CdLwzVKFwV-EEbUBou3vwad_R1mG_gX-lt2U55kGGfVnqzkCNaC77v7h-V7_vXftfvSG-3u909_98-6o69709vcG3oU__DgcAfLybHCxvycI_dHHvud-8M5GvQFwwIM_6p5eeW57f-8Vvp31BgPgv_Ek8qp76l0NhUCBPveuRl1_JAG9P0f-nzeXo6H7x_XR-f7e2fCDf9EbXHdH0p4iDr-V3jVWwbcsfKRuGHOj3TTN_b05XZAF5bOlj7lpyOyzyrxKoyAGt2YA5_iVpPhJU9ORmSDdsRD-OOtdX3dvzl39SUp51gHm3Yy8AYCkQAShZ_pX3RsPoEI8Aoej7mDkjy6vESq0SWivXwGTVMK8vj-8_I-EUQET6uvmvPrpp2Hv4glen5-KsD0D0OtdKMqDlKETAG4WRfYVWItEtdMk4wZkkCVq1n3SoU5XAdcdonP6jevPFsGUyQATxmmOCEMHabqFRpjPSmqVR4zaGQ3YbGkwrdu_JB-8wfCyd-N8yhrGp2HD1ESV2CjctG9ZkqdGSwkJF6WcVy6ppacKAv7I4yy0vwIWQ8k6BHUUXGFGntQz2D3NsT8ALJuxMOWIxSb0VBP8rJllQ1htGG_8OzM__fQJHOwZdkM8ej2vbn5p9Qpl30A5bhmq3fSIqAhvcDnUzE30higZH56zWEiTQNFLXbIqnTVuOZPS6oOdghRUPyQ6aZDjpgJHYUwzGX1BbWdpFHIBNdY5tU-xZn9OwtgQ2PGJ0zqZmJWzGJTTlrtCE3LeG3g3Zx65GHSvPQJlQs56vcH55U135A2FH7PG8GE1TSKyogGG8DsJoWwZ0AVloudfsAC6oSNYFmVCC4cJN6F5WOkgiwUzLmsdPywChYqvkMkXQZRBrcP14osKdNHX8p3Gc_FWlL3yPX7t8JXCjjOJM3RLN8fOUWsi8izDawhJJsqzCGTJfQF2ihxI7iu_CoN8MEVqFd3ezjhL8cEoTbaIdvjx6HB6dDgnh--dw2vNtBmFLjOjBn8M40XiFjeEnfOZshdO913RgP9nglW0kgwuplsuWgmF51kSJQzVjSdW7VdSb3qjqgAoqDJYNbDyONzhQZqCqdAEnkDAuDV5Jk-LKAmEK8fNiflcLzRxcJkOFJumZFER0wikUtsct0uArZkgYp29qAmvECMSUMixKtkbOuEUVTBxbCm8j88V5l-7glHK3AqHczj8QURQolK14TxxcYiQFB7UGJ1v-QqK48eMDzSKkvs67wFR7sE8CMXQ9jM05iiZhfyh1t4g5JAQMl65KdIgxyRAf7adSc31IKfQJ8dKEV-nMzFraiHfdhB1nIlpx3iTRTAGzA1zvVe8kKlYhAfkNA-jOTmltalRNpUpfTQKzqJBwLsPr3CkxzCtsArZhLcm4GIIqKFIC0ukH9Ii16QiUStVfcAQwtE3irUWFqQMppmRkiNQY5I3pLPmYxs0ok9AAXkNRjTAMKTl4mFSc6Cai5UPsRltBasek-JIaNqaT9UBpA_PWXBPAhzCp8k3i9yHfEmSVCQGBWezGK5fwP9MptK19yGjPpAa0KinFmk0vtwXHr5DCxpqLjYa6GYkMk1lVR_w2JU7cNi7cSh7b4heM5pWy-pYbatpTpTMguX1izzH1on1znprHe_iyfKVofi4wgpWESS07G7sHAPf3fjYmWzkXF_OqCGOhwFO-HjuVQA3LJLJi0jD_eII9ouj1jvS_MVpNjU5jK5jWscFhgKmtdLql9k6ZdNpnmjV3baObDnNjmahejm1ulrn11-BWo61masdtU5-kQRpEFFYl1xtGuVwV8ryx1t4rvA44EIkhjSSVTjWvVkEU1c4g0lRF_c2Ppwm8wfifc0DoNHBU5mi9_lDSl2dBfMw0U1pEyaUO2Kob57w8t4Wg_2JRaJgSiNf-KDTFBwL1FJwBOyLekwh2VLQAptlISPIeeLnKVa_BJlOeQVD445hszRQJ26rwg5ze7KTRyUBbHU0yLhcbhdkjU3bHuwKNcXmsbVy1IJZBg48K-nxjoA8MxVf_TVJ62-09lbKWweB3AJQNwl06b_p0DXUa2Gwygo18Ei-atBR2NokpOpTZc4LbApbZysVQs3jXi_XCr0WRR1jVHsXdxbRYUNeJrcsSJeQdMrmJV2hah3TQbDhg6KPwtsl16tJmvRh3uUiv5QBeFh8hRm6Rd_u1CrQlYgz8BlT7Am7BX7oQgT_m1W7SlEP9BAgUOmcFneQqxyCY0wpFr312SLV0oqUJrqPxvkK2gmnBnYfFQOr8CouCmY9c9XA-k_24LXxTMjZXnmqLF-j_kxclzTF3FPVLG54zQ3elwfI787zssqrDrhdPq76rp1ix5hTqffh_4-0bm0R31FbRrLwH_SIDeXifikSQ1iykRgy6GtiRIvZkIO5IkjFJoU5klFY_4UjzR1zndA7FcMOKMYRZ5wKIV-sdD3DwChTaBWyxl8mrlspwsH-BT6ceV7mM9fOJ2Bb7qqyZpfT8FLG5RHMF5EZh42KYcegz2qQFg7766O_haPNIom58L_27SiDITLanJKlo0McqjadNHacmv7aznyw6ygHIvOKnfsK0VmhbB2n9vExrD2h03l2yFP2rNUIS5OydZOkU9aNqpslnZguYcU2oFnBP1Ml37HdfkuPTooICWTLXNv5pjC0QaX07WmSx3PY5sUUV9r_90fZUWqa8M-2ECpoiY2xmOYaKMOcjJ32pNCkHQRBgGNLGuD24Dbt9kkpc7Sk5PXfJPgWZjvGOdFTDRQJ25kIp2i-NdEnJyeFgyEgYmaopZUQVo6jwraS9ZZRGtf-YtS3s2Vyb8ixQ_UDceO44tOq3WBu9QjHitFa0bfM_wO739BS&lang=sage&interacts=eJyLjgUAARUAuQ==) to the code I adapted from username_1 below, to color observed orbit segments

**Tags:** coordinate, satellite, tracker

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: JPL have a pre-launch planning trajectory  https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&MAKE_EPHEM=NO&COMMAND=-158 Let me see what it looks like...  
> **username_2**: NASA also sometimes publishes SPICE kernels with the trajectory.  
> **username_3**: Chandrayaan-3 has a NORAD ID: 57320 and you can track the live location of it here https://www.n2yo.com/?s=57320&live=1  
> **username_0**: @DimaChubarov This doesn't seem to match up with the JPL Horizons data - with which I apparently just managed to image it - what is their data source?  
> **username_3**: At the bottom of the page they refer in particular to Celestrak from which TLEs can be obtained as follows: http://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/gp.php?CATNR=57320  
> **username_0**: Hmmm. I don't think TLE's will work here at least in the long term because they are only intended for Earth-orbiting spacecraft. Also, since it is often accelerating to raise its orbit, the TLE is probably out of date because of this  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-07-14. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

> Does a publicly accessible website/API exist that provides the current coordinates for such objects?

Yes! There's a pre-launch planning trajectory from ISRO/JPLNAV in the [Horizons](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/) system. Chandrayaan-3 has ID number -158. It's classed as a major body, so we can use it as an observation centre, not just a target. There's some info [here](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&MAKE_EPHEM=NO&COMMAND=-158).

This preliminary trajectory covers from 2023-Jul-14 09:23 to 2023-Sep-13 09:00. The data on Horizons will be updated as the mission proceeds, but not in real time.

Here's a view looking from above (north) of the ecliptic plane, from 2023-Jul-15 0:00 UTC, using a 1 hour time step. Earth is blue, the Moon is yellow, the spacecraft is red. The grey line is the X axis, which points towards the First Point of Aries (the equinox point). The plotted points are connected with cubic Bézier curves, using the normalised velocity vectors to compute Bézier control points.

[![Earth, Moon, Chandrayaan-3](https://i.sstatic.net/OSSTJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/OSSTJ.png)

This trajectory has a significant component in the north-south axis:

[![Side-on view showing N-S component](https://i.sstatic.net/P3AeS.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/P3AeS.png)

These are screenshots from this [interactive 3D plot](https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?z=eJydWP1y4kYS_99VvMOsvIkkVpb5MMmFKtUF23LFiQ0UkE32MKUSMBg5QqMdjfBX8UD3HPdi1z0zAoG9uaqj1qDp6e75TX9rDcMgAyp4RNeUrOlMME7moQjJgrMV-YXx6IUlGVkAmSWUwM-KcUpEyO-pIFM2j2hWOSLw4TQORQRaBCNhQtg0o3wNFJaQGU0E5Q6Q50QsaTKjJI2ZwGciePggj90qihLSvCR5FiX35Pw__36JKCeznK9p5pLKkeL5g0dC0IRMn0n_ljQGyNuoNRpu7Ue3Xq8cGXAt5I1WKeMCsDnw9zWnmYBD5NUWeQKnsjgjmifmeTALZ0uqGSKAvMeQcjbPZ0LqzXlMPGIshUiz9ulpls3dhzR2kzAL3Xu2Pg3T6HSpjRcsopi6QDEqR_AdrCnP0CogX3drCuc0zGgwW82RaADfbec3P_D7v_i33hd_WDnqnf8aXHZGHa_bqxwN_Ktg-GU4gs3ri8FV5UgyBqMvfd_77F-MegOQgIdg1Dm_8b1G5egDri56gwHId321edM592-GUqHcvvRvRp1gpAi930fB793r0dD77fbksnJ0MfwcXPUGt52RwlPY9-et1axV-JRFL9SLEmE1arZdOZrTBVlQMVsGGFGWihlnGw1pHCbglwzoAn9Yit80tdvKx8ocC2mPi97tbad76ZmvSsvGBJrfHfkDICmFSELL9G86XR-oUj0Sh6POYBSMrm-RKk9T1F5_R2Spovn9YHj9L0WjkiaPL8P58PHjsHf1CsvNa-G2DRD93pXmPE45GgHodpEaX0G0CEA3ZZmwIIIcmWneqwnZtQqF2SamoE_C3DgEQyaDnShJc9ywTNBmOgjC3mituzji1M1oyGdLixud_jX57A-G171u-y6rWnfDqm3I6HdRue3ec5anVl0riRZbPR88UgpP7QT8qOssjD9CnkCitQmeUUhFGXnVz4B7mmNWAy2b8SgVuIul47WkeGPY2zReHYC3_pnZdx_vwMC-5Vblo9_zy_C3qFeouws16Q1Qo9sjMiP8wfXQsA-3D1Qp_4icJ1KbIsoK6JHV1ljjenuyRX38riJNNb8jJqmSs5omx1FCM-V9ye1maRwJSbU0i4Z9lxjuA4sSS26OW-16a2LvbMUhm95YK7Ih5P2B373wydWgc-sTyBJy0esNLq-7nZE_lGbMqsPn1ZTFZEVD9ODfxIPGMqALymWhvuLhipK2FFls41naS1oJ4WGigy4ezoRKdfxyCOQpLiGQr8I4o0Vea-PizzvG0LvjTO1ZpmPa4_ZJfSIDKcPugCwTbXQkcvZYkNuFk9njznKQbw4R90Lmm3TGeOLoP8VxqGUXGhBp22uUyBoptKQwTWkyh-x4BQXj-mRDXhcxCyWEcW1ib8oReEx8ZSbEFMne-D1kUsxmkXguxSNAAZBKT25LeDmCQ52N9mRSimm2haC6tzy33ZzYpWPh7u8wNdsT202w9MRQt-eWve_dQ6uhNY_JeR7Fc3JOS11Z-X9KX6xCpPA0rANYwl1eonS3qzdrsKrBXgKhY2nWAoIyQFrTN1UHScftHAbtQqBRtGjJO8gZTjMrJSdwjE1OSXPPuC6ciMaAA8gnAFEFYMgr5MOkZDk9d2jjYVS98VLZGcWVENqeMfUFlA0vefhIQhxypuzJIY-RWBKWyoigZMZ4AoUS9r8nU2Xax4jTAFgtyKmpQ6rVvx4LC68RQVVPJlYVzYxMtq1R9WEf06sJl12PI5VEEVrNqjl1p-k0nJo90ToLkU_flDlzWs6Pzg_O2XsyWb6ytJzQu1JUOgmRrcftM5Bbj8_ak4Ng66tpIsJGDumh7r0KoRgim2zangEDXvPk1zw-qbcMNTBo2pCmJ_WmocYHz6jPDQfF1FzgGc2ffoI9NThksKzVHQI6_qG40jCmMEt6xjTOYRx5pnHMHrHaaS1yjgAzDmmscmds-rMYmls0g4ZsyvqID-ds_kz8r3kIPCZcM9P8gXhOqWfycB4x01bAMBq8Ecfz5gwwqUc5PrUcEodTGgfyLi3Jv8AzCv6Q_6UfU4iTFM6AoVtVWJiwc8GCPMWMLYrutgxCKUtg6LbwRBzkJQr7bftUFyUhjMQ0zISa-xdkT8x42z2LY4rx7s1cBzZUe24G7xupZWue8pKl5RXdrsqqQY_5swmJq5fFwdrBunkouV3T0LulrqJTRPv_G2J6tyy26yuc4auLmsHMkjdMtHVpTSh4gpjwErFk9zxMlxA6GvOSrvBoE90qxfBB88fR_VKYu7GD9GE6EDJMNAC8LC5h4KjTH949VW7vVFyAzbgWZ_we5KEQEPxn7ypGiudAGgODjsoUCuOMxYx72iDY2rZq0VoPDtlN-Mhpo_lokq8gowW1sABoHziFVXGqsssRqJv___PSsNeypZ638-EuWve4H4jnkZp8O92lHo7DtQPZt4PE3049mKUlXOiObyoM_pcylc1bkxcXhaQ80ClrceFBecCBB5V39tTInH5Pz1Q2elC01973NR1i2tnwPY3YJXDwBJ2Rg41ywRIhERpPJxnMInG5tqiPbEDYovciCuCM2-3daeVh-VswtqP2De5mb98OdlP4GEa6qN3ctMlrtjHKkDScbB-OdNMBoDKkKXRwcHLfnbI8mcMULlt68fJA_vyiYrvUUPH_SMBMkJzVsWztVdRhT8btxqRwgXEchiF0N5aGOEN6NbfR2uocLSn59CcJn6Lsnd4us9tClTC2Qj7rMlBS3Wq1jN0bl-xCJVtKZdvZRGLbit5zSpPSi17fzZbs0VKNTPcqWfs8-e2Uaqm3e4RrJYhWZdJ_AfyvZ3A=&lang=sage).
There's some info on how to use that plotting script [here](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/49823/16685).

Note that you can set the Moon (ID 301) as the center. I recommend a start time of Aug-10, and you should probably toggle off the `curve` plotting.

---

FWIW, here's a [query URL](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&EPHEM_TYPE=V&OUT_UNITS=KM-S&REF_PLANE=E&VEC_LABELS=NO&CSV_FORMAT=YES&OBJ_DATA=NO&VEC_TABLE=2&COMMAND=-158&CENTER=%40399&START_TIME=%272023-Jul-14+9%3A30+UTC%27&STOP_TIME=%272023-Sep-13+8%3A00%27&STEP_SIZE=1d) which returns the position & velocity vectors (in the J2000.0 ecliptic frame), using a 1 day time step.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is a great answer, I will try to use the Horizons data (via astroquery: https://astroquery.readthedocs.io/en/latest/jplhorizons/jplhorizons.html) to attempt to photograph it today :) I will not yet mark it as answer though in case anyone has info on *live* tracking data  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Glad you like it. Astroquery is good, but it's pretty easy to construct Horizons queries & parse the results yourself.  
> **username_1**: @uhoh Ah, right. :) BTW, vector tables use TDB by default, but you can put `UTC` or `TT` after the start time to request a different time scale.  
> **username_0**: Thanks to you, we now have this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7LAFiUXLMo :)  
> **username_1**: @username_0 That's pretty cool! Perhaps you can post it as a GIF (at a slower frame rate), either here or on https://space.stackexchange.com The Stack Exchange image uploader accepts GIF, but it has a file size limit of 2 MB.  
> **username_0**: Uploaded here: https://deeprandomsurvey.org/static/img/Chandrayaan-3.gif In the meantime I have found this SkyTrack software which can continuously track from JPL Horizons Ephemerides as well: https://heavenscape.com/videos.html  
> **username_0**: We observed it two more times, last just now on its lunar transfer trajectory: https://deeprandomsurvey.org/ - thank you very much for your answer and for the code that helps us visualize the orbits!  
> **username_0**: Here is my adapted code that colors a segment: https://sagecell.sagemath.org/?q=exuezf  
> **username_0**: Ah, good to know! I'll add the permalink to my question  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-08-01. Score: 2

SPICE kernels are available for many NASA (and other missions). [A large collection](https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/) is available from NAIF. As well as some [archived datasets](https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/data_archived.html). These can be processed using the [SPICE](https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/toolkit.html) toolkit, which is available for several programming languages directly from NAIF. Additional 3rd party libraries like [SpiceyPy](https://github.com/AndrewAnnex/SpiceyPy) are also available.


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