Heliospice

Provides automatic spacecraft ephemeris retrieval and SPICE kernel management for heliophysics missions via an MCP server.

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Language

4 months ago

First Indexed

2 months ago

Catalog Refreshed

Documentation & install

Readme and setup notes from the catalogue, plus a client-ready config you can copy for your MCP host.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

View docs

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "huangzesen-heliospice": {
      "command": "heliospice-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "HELIOSPICE_KERNEL_DIR": "/path/to/kernels"
      }
    }
  }
}

You can run an MCP server for heliospice to enable large language models and tools to query spacecraft positions, trajectories, and coordinate transforms. This server provides ready-to-use endpoints for generating SPICE-based ephemeris data, managing kernels, and performing common heliophysics calculations through simple tool calls.

How to use

You will run a local MCP server that exposes a set of tools for spacecraft navigation and ephemeris computation. The server can be accessed by your MCP client to obtain positions, trajectories, velocities, and coordinate transforms for listed missions. You can also manage kernel loading, resolve missions, and query available frames.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Python and, optionally, Node.js if you plan to use client tooling that expects JavaScript environments.

pip install heliospice

For MCP server support (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, etc.):

pip install heliospice[mcp]

Additional notes

The MCP server can be run in two ways. You can start the MCP server directly as an executable, or run it through Python as a module. Use whichever method fits your environment.

# Run directly
heliospice-mcp

# Or via Python
python -m heliospice.server

Available tools

get_spacecraft_position

Return the position of a spacecraft at a single time for a given observer and reference frame.

get_spacecraft_trajectory

Return a time-ordered trajectory for a spacecraft over a time range, with optional velocity data.

get_spacecraft_velocity

Return velocity data for a spacecraft over a specified time interval.

compute_distance

Compute the distance between two bodies or reference points.

transform_coordinates

Transform vectors between frames or coordinate systems.

list_spice_missions

List all missions supported by the MCP server.

list_coordinate_frames

List available reference frames and their descriptions.

manage_kernels

Manage SPICE kernel caches, including loading and unloading kernels.