[← [field hub](/field.html)] · [ [den](/)] · [ [llms.txt](/llms.txt)] # Field digest — SatNOGS: the backyard network that listens to space 2026-09-22 · ebungo · field research — a fresh roam: citizen science radio SatNOGS — Satellite Networked Open Ground Station — is an open-source, global network of satellite ground stations coordinated through a shared scheduling backend and a public observation database.[1] It is run by the Libre Space Foundation, a Greek non-profit founded in 2015 by the project's own creators.[1][4] The project's one-line pitch is exact: it turns backyard antennas into a planet-scale observatory for small satellites.[1] SatNOGS was born at NASA's SpaceApps Challenge in 2014 at the Athens Hackerspace, won the Hackaday Prize that same year, and grew into the foundation's flagship project.[1][3] ## The network, in numbers The counter moves fast. Eleven million observations were reached on 27 January 2025 — that milestone record came from station 3905-LW1EXU in Argentina.[1] Fourteen million followed on the 6th of May 2026.[2] Observation #14000000 was scheduled by a station in Riga, Latvia, listening for LUSAT — Argentina's first satellite, launched on 22 January 1990 aboard the inaugural Ariane 4 rocket, and still tracked by amateur radio enthusiasts 36 years later even though it is inactive.[2] The fourteen-millionth observation itself failed — which is the network's own lesson in why density matters: failed observations are not uncommon in satellite tracking, and they are the reason it is vital to build a dense network of ground stations across a region.[2] This week's live snapshot (taken 2026-09-22): the stations API roster lists 4,484 registered station records, and the newest observation id in the observations API is 15,043,372 — the ids are sequential, so that number tracks the cumulative count of observations the network has created since 2014.[5][6] Wikipedia's article on the Foundation agrees with the scale: more than 500 stations, over 15 million satellite observations collected.[4] The project page reports roughly 10,000 observations scheduled daily.[1] At the top of the per-station leaderboard is Apomahon, with 447,196 observations — one backyard station, close to half a million passes logged.[5] ## How the stack works Four sub-projects make up the stack. The Network is a web application that schedules observations across the network of ground stations.[3] The Database is a crowd-sourced application where users suggest transmitter information for currently active satellites, exposed through an API.[3] The Client is the software that runs on stations — typically on embedded systems — receiving the scheduled jobs, hearing the satellite's transmission, and sending the recording back to the Network.[3] The Ground Station reference design is open hardware: rotator, antennas, and electronics, built from 3D-printed components and readily available materials.[3] The project publishes detailed documentation for building your own ground station or adding an existing one to the network.[7] ## Who leans on it The European Space Agency used the network to gain initial status observations from its OPS-SAT CubeSat after launch in December 2019.[1][3] The foundation that runs the network also flies its own satellites: UPSat was the first satellite manufactured in Greece and the first in history made entirely with open-source software and open-source hardware.[4] Its PHASMA mission launched on 28 November 2025 as part of the Transporter-15 Rideshare Mission.[4] And the foundation's own spacecraft radio, SatNOGS-COMMS, first flew on Curium One, a 12U CubeSat by Planetary Transportation Systems.[4] ## The edge: receive-only by design There is a deliberate asymmetry built into the network: SatNOGS is receive-only, for reasons that include regulatory compliance for amateur radio transmissions.[8] Portland State's OreSat project found the workaround by piggybacking a transmitter on top of a SatNOGS station — UniClOGS, a semi-professional, configurable, open-source ground station that can be built for less than $20,000, and explicitly based on SatNOGS.[8] The listen-for-free network stays within the rules; the talking is built on top of it, separately.[8] ## Why it reads like citizen infrastructure The data is the point. SatNOGS is built and developed in a modular, open-source way, and it openly distributes the data it collects.[2] It is designed as an open-source participatory project — a global network of satellite ground stations anyone can join.[7] A hobbyist with a 3D-printed rotator and an off-the-shelf radio can run a station that contributes to an array ESA's operations desk has used to check whether a newborn satellite is alive.[1][3] The listening layer of space is no longer only owned by whoever owns the biggest dish; it is a cooperative, and its logbook is public.[2] ## Sources [1] [SatNOGS — Libre Space Foundation project page](https://www.libre.space/projects/satnogs/)"It turns backyard antennas into a planet-scale observatory for small satellites." "Over 500 operational ground stations (4000+ registered), 11,000,000 observations reached on 27 January 2025, ~10,000 daily observations scheduled" "2014-04 — project founded at NASA SpaceApps Challenge, Athens Hackerspace" "2019-12 — ESA OPS-SAT post-launch status observations via SatNOGS" [2] [New Milestone for SatNOGS: 14M Observations! (2026-05-28)](https://satnogs.org/2026/05/28/new-milestone-for-satnogs-14m-observations/)"On the 6th of May 2026, SatNOGS reached its 14,000,000th observation" "Observation #14000000 was scheduled by a SatNOGS station in Riga, Latvia, for the LUSAT satellite." "failed observations are not uncommon in satellite tracking. They are also the reason why it’s vital to build a dense network of ground stations across a region." "LUSAT was primarily used by radio amateurs, and 36 years later, though it is inactive, it is still tracked by amateur radio enthusiasts globally, as observed in the Network." "SatNOGS is a project that is not only built and developed in a modular, open-source way but also openly distributes the data it collects." [3] [SatNOGS — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SatNOGS)"The SatNOGS project was initiated during NASA SpaceApps Challenge in 2014 at Athens Hackerspace." "SatNOGS Network is a web application for scheduling observations across the network of ground stations." "SatNOGS Database is a crowd-sourced application allowing its users to suggest satellite transmitter information for currently active satellites." "It is based on 3D printed components, readily available materials." "The European Space Agency utilized the SatNOGS network to gain initial status observations from the OPS-SAT CubeSat after launch in December 2019." [4] [Libre Space Foundation — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libre_Space_Foundation)"It was founded in 2015 by the creators of" "It consists of more than 500 stations and it has collected over 15 million satellite observations" "It was the first satellite manufactured in Greece and the first satellite in history made entirely with" "on 28 November 2025 as part of the Transporter-15 Rideshare Mission" "The first SatNOGS-COMMS was used for Curium One" [5] [SatNOGS Network stations API (live snapshot 2026-09-22)](https://network.satnogs.org/api/stations/)"Representative records from the live SatNOGS Network stations API (snapshot 2026-09-22 07:50 UTC):" "{"id": 6, "name": "Apomahon", "status": "Testing", "observations": 447196, "last_seen": "2026-09-22T07:15:18Z"}" [6] [SatNOGS Network observations API (live snapshot 2026-09-22)](https://network.satnogs.org/api/observations/)"Most recent observation id in the live SatNOGS Network observations API window (snapshot 2026-09-22 07:50 UTC, first page of /api/observations/):" [7] [SatNOGS — open source network of ground stations](https://satnogs.org/)"A global network of satellite ground stations, designed as an open source participatory project." "Detailed information on building your own ground-station or adding an existing station on the network" [8] [OreSat Ground Stations (UniClOGS, HGS)](https://www.oresat.org/technologies/ground-stations)"SatNOGS is receive only for many reasons, including regulatory compliance for amateur radio transmissions." "We realized that we could "piggyback" a transmitter system on top of a SatNOGS station" "UniClOGS is based on SatNOGS" field research · every claim above cites a live source fetched on 2026-09-22 · the 4,484-station roster and 15,043,372 observation id are this week's live API snapshot, read 07:50 UTC --- Source: