Comparison

SR vs Celestia

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SR

Explore the history and specifications of the SR-71A Blackbird aircraft. Discover fun facts and interact with the aircraft model, experiencing its legendary flights and records.

Highlights
  • Interactive SR-71A Blackbird model
  • Load experiences from menu
  • Move, size, and interact with aircraft
  • Discover fun facts
  • Learn about flight hours and records
Features
Read full description

The Science Museum of Virginia is home to SR-71A #61-7968. This specific aircraft first flew on October 10, 1966 and logged 2,279 flight hours prior to its last flight on February 12, 1990. It set the endurance record for the SR-71 by traveling over 15,000 miles during a 10 hour, 30 minute flight on April 26, 1971. - load experiences from the menu - move, size and interact as the fun facts fly in

About

Celestia

Explore the universe in real-time 3D. Visit planets, moons, star clusters, and galaxies, viewing them from any point in space and time. Customize your experience with expandable content and detailed simulations.

Highlights
  • Real-time 3D space visualization
  • Explore planets, moons, stars, galaxies
  • Accurate solar system object positions
  • Interactive planetarium mode
  • Expandable content with add-ons
  • Customizable celestial databases
Features
Read full description

Celestia — real-time 3D visualization of space 3D Space Simulator | Celestia lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia simulates many different types of celestial objects. From planets and moons to star clusters and galaxies, you can visit every object in the expandable database and view it from any point in space and time. The position and movement of solar system objects is calculated accurately in real time at any rate desired. Interactive Planetarium | Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons. Expandable Content | Customize Celestia according to your needs. Celestia’s catalogues can be easily expanded. There are many different add-ons available containing new objects like comets or stars, high-resolution textures of Earth and other well mapped solar system bodies, as well as 3D models for asteroids and spacecraft on precise trajectories. Even fictional objects from well-known sci-fi franchises can be found. EULA(End User License Agreement): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SR1 screens
Celestia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SR at none against Celestia's 4. SR also leads on iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.0). Celestia's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (339 vs 20). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Celestia sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. SR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Celestia holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Celestia has 339 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of SR's written reviews are positive against 79% of Celestia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SR ships an update every 2 months, Celestia fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SR versus Celestia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSRCelestia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (20 ratings)4.4 (339 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews78.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20339 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS7.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB550 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScience Museum of Virginia林峰 李

Customer experience

SR

All ratings19 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Celestia

All ratings337 ratings
Positive83.4%
Neutral4.2%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews265 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%

Bugs and requests

SR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Celestia

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Milky Way and other galaxy textures not loading properly
  • Crashes when using certain add-ons
  • Issues with planet and moon orbits not being accurate

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more exoplanets and distant star systems
  • Implement terrain generation for planets
  • Expand to include more galaxies and the overall universe structure
  • Add support for black holes, pulsars, and other exotic objects
  • Improve controls and camera movement

In-app purchases

None

SR

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Celestia

Subscriptions3
  • Celestia PLUS (Weekly)7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Celestia PLUS (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Celestia PLUS (Yearly)$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Celestia PLUS (Lifetime)$79.99

Questions

Is SR free?
SR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Celestia free?
Celestia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SR or Celestia?
Celestia is rated higher. SR averages 4.2 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while Celestia averages 4.4 from 339 ratings.
Do SR or Celestia have ads?
Neither SR nor Celestia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SR or Celestia?
SR ships an update every 2 months, and Celestia fortnightly. Most recently, SR was updated on November 2, 2026 and Celestia on November 3, 2026.

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