NASA

About NASA

The NASA API portal (api.nasa.gov) is a catalog and key-management service providing access to a curated set of NASA APIs, including data and imagery from NASA and other federal agencies. It is maintained as a central access point rather than hosting the underlying API code itself; the Earth API and Mars Rover API listed on the site have been archived and replaced by the Earthdata GIBS API.

Access does not require authentication for basic exploration, but developers building applications, such as mobile apps, are directed to sign up for a free API key to raise their usage limits. A shared DEMO_KEY is available for initial testing, limited to 30 requests per IP per hour and 50 per IP per day, while registered API keys default to 1,000 requests per hour across all api.nasa.gov requests. Exceeding these limits results in a temporary one-hour block, and usage can be tracked via the X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining response headers.

The service is intended for application developers who need programmatic access to NASA data and imagery. Support for bugs in individual APIs is handled on those APIs' own pages, while issues with the portal itself can be reported through its GitHub repository.

Key features

• Free API key signup for accessing NASA data and imagery across federal agencies
• Access to a curated catalog of NASA APIs for application developers
• No authentication required for basic exploration of NASA data
• DEMO_KEY available for initial testing without signup
• Rate limit usage visible via X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining response headers

Frequently asked questions