SpaceStationAR LITE vs ISS Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SpaceStationAR LITE
Explore the night sky with augmented reality. This app overlays satellite passes, stars, and celestial objects onto your real-world view. Track the ISS, Starlink trains, and more, with calendar events and map visualizations.
- AR satellite pass simulation
- Display of stars, galaxies, and spacecraft
- Satellite pass visualization on maps
- Global map of satellite orbits
- Calendar of upcoming passes and launches
- Offline app usage
- Satellite pass notifications
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SpaceStationAR is an augmented reality (AR) application that simulates the visibility of satellites in the night sky. With SpaceStationAR, you can easily spot the brilliant International Space Station, spectacular Starlink Trains, and various satellites at the forefront of space exploration with your own eyes. As your iPhone or iPad camera captures the scenery around you, SpaceStationAR overlays passes of the International Space Station, the Starlink Train (a group of Starlink satellites), and the Chinese Space Station onto the actual scenery. You can also use the app to find bright stars, galaxies, spacecrafts like Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and even see the direction of major cities beyond the ground. SpaceStationAR also indicates the positions of geostationary satellites, making it a valuable tool for antenna installation. You can easily access satellite orbits on maps in addition to the AR views. The "Calendar" tab displays events like upcoming satellite passes and rocket launches within the next two weeks. You can choose a pass from the list and simulate it in AR. Apple Watch app and "Today" widget are also available. They show simple lists of satellites' passes. LITE version has some restrictions. AR prediction stops 30 minutes before the passes. Full version without Ads and with the sky chat view is available on the store. http://itunes.apple.com/app/torisat/id361194118?mt=8 List of Features * AR simulation of satellite passes overlaid on real landscapes * Display of stars, galaxies, black holes, planetary probes, satellites, and world cities in AR (Visibility can be customized by type) * Visualization of satellite passes on maps * Presentation of satellite orbits and current locations on a global map * Calendar listing satellite passes within the next two weeks * Support for newly launched satellites * Offline app usage * Satellite pass notifications: Set notification times from 15 minutes to 6 hours before the event for accurate alerts. (Please allow background location updates for precise notifications. Disabling this feature may lead to inaccurate notifications when traveling long distances with the app closed.)
ISS Explorer
Explore a detailed 3D model of the International Space Station. Rotate, zoom, and select individual components to learn about their function and systems. Organize your view by turning parts and labels on or off.
- Interactive 3D ISS model
- Rotate and zoom functionality
- Selectable parts with isolation
- Detailed information on components
- Hierarchical part organization
- Toggle parts and labels
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The ISS explorer is an interactive tool for exploring the parts and pieces of the International Space Station (ISS). The application allows the user to view a 3D model of the ISS, rotate it, zoom into it, and select different parts and pieces. When the application starts, you can see a view of the entire ISS with category labels. Tabs are available on the left hand side of the screen which allow you access to information, the hierarchy, settings and application information. From this point, you can zoom into the station, revealing more labels of visible parts. The station can also be rotated to view from different angles. If a part is selected, the part is isolated so that you can focus on the specific piece. The information tab shows information about the currently isolated part. Inside the hierarchy tab, you can turn parts on or off, turn labels for parts on or off, turn parts transparent, or select a part to focus on. The parts are organized in a hierarchy to allow for systems to be described and displayed. This includes things such as truss, modules, and external platforms. The Information tab shows information about the current isolated part, system, or the full ISS if the entire station is shown.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ISS Explorer at 100% against SpaceStationAR LITE's 47%. ISS Explorer also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). SpaceStationAR LITE's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (139 vs 16). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ISS Explorer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpaceStationAR LITE has 139 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of SpaceStationAR LITE's written reviews are positive against 100% of ISS Explorer's.
SpaceStationAR LITE ships an update every 2 weeks, ISS Explorer every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SpaceStationAR LITE | ISS Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (139 ratings) | 4.9 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 46.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 139 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 747 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Toriningen Co.,Ltd. | NASA |
Customer experience
SpaceStationAR LITE
ISS Explorer
In-app purchases
SpaceStationAR LITE
No in-app purchases
ISS Explorer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SpaceStationAR LITE free?
Is ISS Explorer free?
Which has better reviews, SpaceStationAR LITE or ISS Explorer?
Do SpaceStationAR LITE or ISS Explorer have ads?
Which is updated more often, SpaceStationAR LITE or ISS Explorer?
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