StarDash is a free, personal project that displays live (and archived) Starship telemetry data from SpaceX's API. There are no accounts, no sign-ups and nothing to fill in, so there’s not a whole lot to say here!
What data does StarDash collect?
Nothing. This site has no analytics, no tracking pixels, no advertising and no cookies of its own. I have no clue who you are, I can't tell one visitor from another, and I have no way to contact you unless you email me yourself. That includes your location, your phone’s sensors, and anything from the camera: see Your location and The camera and motion sensors below.
What your browser keeps
The dashboard saves a little data in your own browser so it looks the same when you come back. For example, your theme, typeface, corner style and map choices, your StarSim difficulty, landing guide, colour and direction options, which chart view you were using, the layout you built on the advanced console’s Custom tab, and a short buffer of the flight data already on screen so a reload is instant. All of it stays on your device. None of it is sent to me or to anyone else, and you can wipe it at any time with Reset local storage in the settings panel, or by clearing site data in your browser.
Your location
Direct distance to the vehicle is an optional setting (by default it is off unless you explicitly turn it on in the ‘Experimental Settings’ menu) that shows how far the ship is from your current location in a straight line, and then marks where you are on the map and the 3D globe.
Distance to Vehicle and the AR view are the only things on this site that ask your browser for anything from your device (note that currently, AR mode is not available on non-mobile platforms). Your browser is only asked once you turn one of them on, and a popup explains what happens and why before the browser’s own permission popup appears. Your location is used in the page you are looking at and nowhere else. It is never written to your browser’s storage, never put in a link, never sent to StarDash or to any other service, and never recorded anywhere. Turning the setting off, or closing the tab ends location use.
The setting itself (ie, the bool itself if it’s toggled on or off) is saved with your other preferences, as described above. Your location is not, so every time the page loads it has to ask your browser again. Permission is your browser’s to remember or forget, and you can withdraw it there at any time!
The camera and motion sensors
AR mode is an optional view that shows where the ship is in the sky above you; it is designed to aid anyone watching from the ground to catch a glimpse of the Ship during a re-light or simply passing overhead. It is off unless you open it, and it needs three things: your location (read above), your phone’s rear camera, and your device’s compass and tilt sensors.
The camera feed is shown on your screen and nowhere else. It is never recorded, never uploaded and never saved. No photos, no frames, no video, nothing. I can’t look at it, analyse it or store it; it is simply what the trajectory is drawn on top of. Closing AR mode, switching tabs or app, or leaving the page stops the camera immediately, and the little indicator light your phone shows will go out with it.
The compass and tilt readings are used only to work out which way you are pointing, so the overlay sits on the right part of the sky. They are used as they arrive and, like all other data on this site, they are not saved or sent anywhere.
Same as with your location: your browser asks you first, there is a popup before that explaining what it is for, and you can withdraw permission in your browser whenever you like!
Hosting
StarDash runs on Cloudflare. Like every web host, Cloudflare records basic request information such as your IP address for security and to keep the service running. I do not use those records to build any picture of who visits, and I do not export or share them.
Other services the page loads
Some parts of the dashboard are drawn using services I do not run. When one of them loads, your browser talks to it directly, and it will see your IP address and which browser you are using, the same as visiting any website. These are:
- CARTO and EOX, which supply the map and satellite imagery on the ground track and 3D views.
- NASA, which supplies the city lights on the 3D globe when Night side on the 3D globe is on, as it is unless you turn it off in the settings. Turn it off, or use the Simple map style, and nothing is fetched from NASA.
- jsDelivr and unpkg, which supply the mapping and 3D code libraries the dashboard is built on.
- YouTube and X, on the Live Stream tab, and in the small player on the Trajectory tab once you open it, where the launch broadcast and mission updates are embedded. These are the only pieces here that may store data on your device, and only once one of them loads or you press play. Their own privacy policies apply to them. Stay off that tab and leave the player closed, and neither is ever contacted.
This page itself loads none of them.
The flight data
The telemetry the site records and offers for download is SpaceX's published vehicle data: where the ship was, speed, altitude, etc. It contains nothing about the people looking at it.
Children
The site is for a general audience and collects nothing from anyone, of any age.
Changes and contact
If any of the above changes, this page changes with it and the date at the top will update as such. Feel free to send any questions, feature requests, or feedback to josh@stardash.live.