# Provenance stamped 2026-10-07 (roadmap#943): written by an API Evangelist sweep (dated 2026-06-13 by the file itself), not
# harvested from the provider. `method: generated` so the economics campaign may replace it with a
# dated, verbatim transcription; every figure below is unverified until it does.
method: generated
generated: '2026-06-13'
specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: ISS Location API (Open Notify)
providerId: iss-api
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Space
  - ISS
  - Free
  - Public API
  - Open Source
  - FinOps
  - FOCUS
description: >-
  FOCUS-aligned FinOps profile for the Open Notify ISS API. The provider
  charges nothing; there is no invoice, no billing surface, and no API key.
  FinOps practice for consumers is entirely on the consumer side — optimizing
  the cost of downstream infrastructure (compute, egress, storage) that
  processes or caches ISS data, rather than any provider bill.
sources:
  - http://open-notify.org/Open-Notify-API/
  - https://github.com/open-notify/Open-Notify-API
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Nathan Bergey / Open Notify
serviceCategory: Public Open Data / Space Technology
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Free / Open Source
  billingFrequency: N/A
  billingCurrency: N/A
  chargeCategories:
    - Usage
  chargeFrequency: N/A
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Open Notify ISS API
  ServiceCategory: Public Open Data / Space Technology
  ProviderName: Open Notify
  PublisherName: Nathan Bergey / Open Notify
  InvoiceIssuerName: N/A (no invoice issued)
  PricingCategory: Free
  PricingUnit: request
  BillingCurrency: N/A
  ChargeCategory: Usage
meters:
  - name: iss_location_requests
    description: Number of GET /iss-now.json calls made by the consumer
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - consumer_service
      - environment
  - name: astronaut_requests
    description: Number of GET /astros.json calls made by the consumer
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - consumer_service
      - environment
  - name: data_egress
    description: Bytes received from api.open-notify.org (consumer-side metric)
    unit: bytes
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - endpoint
      - consumer_service
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: >-
      Track consumer-side request volume to api.open-notify.org; monitor cache
      hit/miss ratios to understand how much load is genuinely necessary. There
      are no provider-side cost dashboards or invoices to reconcile.
  - name: Allocation
    description: >-
      Allocate consumer-side infrastructure cost (compute, egress, storage) for
      ISS data pipelines to the owning team or product. No provider charges
      exist to allocate.
  - name: Optimization
    description: >-
      Cache ISS position responses for at least five seconds (the server
      refresh interval) and astronaut roster data for at least one hour.
      Eliminate unnecessary polling loops. Use a single shared cache rather
      than per-client polling.
  - name: Accountability
    description: >-
      The team consuming ISS data owns the consumer-side cost and is
      responsible for polite use of the community-operated free service.
notes:
  - >-
    The Open Notify API is a volunteer-maintained, community-funded service.
    There is no paid tier, no SLA, and no commercial support. Organizations
    relying on this data for production workloads should consider self-hosting
    the open-source code or using a commercial ISS tracking API as a fallback.
  - >-
    The ISS pass-time prediction endpoint has been retired. Only the current
    location and astronaut roster endpoints remain operational.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com