VersalSpace data methodology

We treat the operating agency, the launch provider, and the spacecraft operator as the authoritative source for any given record. When primary information conflicts, the entity closest to the operational decision wins.

• Civil agency announcements (NASA, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, Roscosmos, CNSA, KASA, CSA, UKSA).
• Launch provider press kits and pre-launch publications (SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Firefly, MHI).
• National regulatory bodies (FAA AST, KCAA, MIIT, IN-SPACe) for licensing and window data.
• Range and pad authorities (Patrick SFB, Vandenberg SFB, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station) for weather and scrub status.
• Defence and military space organizations only when the launch is publicly disclosed.

New launches enter the catalog within hours of being publicly announced. The lifecycle below is what every record passes through before it appears on a detail page or in the calendar.

• Initial draft seeded from the announcing operator with a Net Earlier Than (NET) timestamp in UTC.
• Cross-checked against at least one independent source (agency briefing, range notice, regulatory filing) before status is upgraded from TBD to TBC or Go.
• Editorial pass for naming, slug, mission linkage, rocket linkage, launchpad linkage, and the short editorial description.
• Schema metadata (SEO title, canonical URL, OG image, FAQ, sources) generated and reviewed.
• Published to the live database with a UTC `created_at` and `updated_at` timestamp visible on every record.

Active launches are tracked daily. Mission status changes within minutes of a public scrub, hold, success, or failure announcement. Historic records are reviewed when a new authoritative document (mission report, anomaly summary, FAA letter) becomes available.

• Status transitions (TBD → TBC → Go → In flight → Success / Failure) are time-stamped in UTC.
• Mission timelines are updated when the operator publishes a revised flight profile.
• Rocket success rates, total launches, and total successful launches are recomputed nightly from the launches table.
• Launchpad totals refresh on the same nightly job.

For statistics, we count an attempt as a "launch" when first-stage ignition occurs and the vehicle releases the hold-down clamps. Static-fire tests, captive holds, and on-pad aborts before liftoff are tracked separately and do not contribute to the total flights number on a rocket page.

• Classified payload identities that are not publicly disclosed by the operator or the customer.
• Speculative future launches that have no announced operator, vehicle, or NET window.
• Mission patches, hero images, or footage we cannot legally redistribute — we link to the rights-holder instead.

Every detail page carries a "Sources" panel listing the citations behind the record. When you spot a missing or stale citation, the link in the Correction policy will route the report straight to the editorial desk.