Everyone tells you when.
We tell you where to look.

Launch Compass points your phone at the exact patch of sky where a rocket launch will appear from where you are standing — and tells you honestly whether it's worth walking outside.

Ask about early access

Android · in testing, coming to Google Play

What it actually says

Where ENE · 68° — about a fist and a half above the horizon When you'll see it Rises out of the treeline ~T+2 min · brightest ~T+4 min Verdict EXCELLENT — twilight launch, sunlit plume against a dark sky

How it works

  1. Hold your phone flat. A rocket needle sits on a compass dial and turns as you turn, pointing at the bearing where the launch becomes visible from your location.
  2. It doesn't point at the pad. The pad is usually below the horizon. The needle points where the rocket will actually climb into view, which is often a different direction entirely.
  3. How high, in fists. Elevation is given in degrees and in something you can do in the dark — a fist at arm's length is about 10°.
  4. An honest verdict. Sun position, trajectory, distance, and cloud cover produce one of EXCELLENT, GOOD, POOR, or NONE, with the reason in plain language.

Features

Rocket needle

A live compass aimed at the spot the launch will appear from your position, not at the launch site.

Honest scoring

If a launch is invisible from where you live, the app says so instead of letting you set a 5am alarm.

Free launch schedule

Every upcoming launch, browsable for free, with the times and status kept current.

Status-aware countdown

Holds freeze the clock, scrubs update the time, and a tentative date is labeled tentative rather than counted down.

What you'll see

A plain-language description: when the bright point rises, which way it drifts, when to watch for stage separation.

Works offline

Direction, elevation, and countdown are computed on your phone, so it still works in a dark field with no signal.

Accuracy, stated plainly

Launch times, pads, and vehicles come from published launch data. Where the rocket will be at a given second is a model, not telemetry, so anything derived from the flight path is labeled as an estimate in the app. When a launch has a date but no announced time, Launch Compass says it can't tell yet — because visibility depends almost entirely on where the sun is, and guessing would be worse than saying nothing.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from other rocket launch apps?

Most launch apps tell you when a rocket lifts off. Launch Compass answers the question you actually have standing in your driveway: which direction do I face, how high do I look, and will I see anything from here?

Why doesn't the needle point at the launch pad?

Because the pad is usually hidden below the curve of the Earth. From a few hundred miles away the rocket appears where it has climbed high enough to clear your horizon, which can be a noticeably different bearing than the pad.

Will it tell me when a launch isn't worth watching?

Yes, and that's the point. A daytime launch several hundred miles away is invisible, and the app says so.

Does it work without a signal?

Yes. The schedule is cached and everything else is computed on your phone.

What does it collect about me?

No accounts, no analytics, no advertising. Your location stays on your phone except for an optional cloud-cover lookup, where the coordinates are rounded to about seven miles first. See the full privacy policy.

Stop missing launches you could have seen

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