Real-Time ISS Position Updates Every Minute

This n8n workflow automates monitoring the International Space Station (ISS) position by triggering every minute via a Cron node. It fetches live data from a public API using an HTTP Request node, extracts essential fields like timestamp, latitude, and longitude in a Set node, and employs a Function node to intelligently deduplicate data by comparing against previously stored static data. Only new positions are passed forward, ensuring efficient processing without redundant notifications.

The core innovation lies in the use of n8n's static data feature within the Function node, which persists state across executions. This prevents spam from unchanged positions and scales well for frequent polling. The workflow is lightweight, requiring no external databases, making it ideal for real-time tracking applications.

Benefits include significant time savings for developers avoiding custom polling scripts, reduced API calls through deduplication, and easy extensibility—add nodes for Slack/Mattermost alerts, database logging, or mapping visualizations. Use cases span space education, live dashboards, IoT integrations, or hobbyist projects, demonstrating n8n's power for periodic data collection.