AN INTERACTIVE HISTORY OF SATELLITE NAVIGATION / 1978—2026
The invisible architecture above us.
Every position on Earth begins with a signal from space. Trace the launches that built four global navigation systems—and discover the spacecraft behind each point.
01 / THE LAUNCH ARCHIVE
Four constellations. One sky.
Each mark is a catalogued satellite, placed by its exact launch date. Select one to inspect its record.
02 / TRAVEL THROUGH TIME
1978 — 2026
Drag the handles to zoom into a chapter.
03 / THE FOUR SYSTEMS
Different paths.
One connected world.
How many spacecraft did each system launch in the selected years? The small charts trace their annual rhythm.
THE ARCHIVE
From a space-week experiment to a living launch history.
Signal Atlas reimagines Igor’s 2014 World Space Week Croatia visualization with later launches, a new visual system, and an inspectable record for each spacecraft.
What the data means
Launch dates and identifiers come from Jonathan McDowell’s General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects and International GNSS Service satellite metadata. The dots count catalogued spacecraft, including retired and test vehicles—not satellites currently operating. GLONASS mass simulators are excluded; launch failures and untracked payloads may be absent. 2026 is a partial year.