NASA Image and Video Library API

Free NASA Image and Video Library API with no key: search 140,000+ NASA photos, videos and audio with captions, keywords and multiple resolutions. No account needed.

No API key requiredCORS enabledHTTPSFree tier

Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 21 Aug 2026

What is the NASA Image and Video Library API?

The NASA Image and Video Library API is a free, key-free search interface to NASA's media archive. It returns image, video and audio records with titles, descriptions, keywords, NASA centre and dates, plus direct URLs to thumbnail, small, medium and original-resolution assets.

This is the API behind images.nasa.gov, covering well over a hundred thousand assets from every NASA centre — Apollo mission photography, Hubble and Webb releases, launch footage, historical audio. Unlike the better-known APOD endpoint it needs no key at all, not even a demo one, which makes it the easiest NASA media source to build against.

The response follows the Collection+JSON convention, so results nest under `collection.items`, each item carrying a `data` array with exactly one metadata object and a `links` array of asset URLs at different sizes. Two things to watch: assets live on a separate `images-assets.nasa.gov` host, so you fetch metadata here and pixels there; and although most NASA imagery is public domain, the archive does contain third-party material with restrictions, which the item's own description flags. Check before assuming you can reuse a particular image commercially.

Quick facts

Base URL: https://images-api.nasa.gov
Authentication: No API key or account, not even a demo key. Most NASA media is public domain, but the archive includes third-party content with usage restrictions — check each item's description before commercial reuse.
Rate limit: No published limit. Asset downloads come from a separate CDN host and are not counted against the search API.
Pricing: Free. NASA content is generally not copyrighted; NASA logos and insignia have separate usage rules.
CORS: Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript
Official docs: Read the docs

How to use the NASA Image and Video Library API

Every request below was executed against the live API on 21 Aug 2026, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

1. Search the archive for Apollo 11 images

GET https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&page_size=1&media_type=image

curl

curl 'https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&page_size=1&media_type=image'

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&page_size=1&media_type=image");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Python (requests)

import requests

res = requests.get("https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&page_size=1&media_type=image", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

Response — HTTP 200 (truncated)

{
  "collection": {
    "version": "1.1",
    "href": "http://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&page_size=1&media_type=image",
    "items": [
      {
        "href": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/jsc2007e034221/collection.json",
        "data": [
          {
            "album": [
              "KSC_50th_Anniversary"
            ],
            "center": "JSC",
            "date_created": "1969-07-11T00:00:00Z",
            "description": "Personnel atop the 402-ft. Mobile Service Structure look back at the Apollo 11 spacecraft as the tower is moved away during a Countdown Demonstration Test. Photo filed 11 July 1969. ",
            "keywords": [
              "Apollo",
              "Apollo 11",
              "Launch"
            ],
            "media_type": "image",
            "nasa_id": "jsc2007e034221",
            "title": "Apollo 11 spacecraft pre-launch"
          }
        ],
        "links": [
          {
            "href": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/jsc2007e034221/jsc2007e034221~medium.jpg",
            "rel": "alternate",
            "render": "image",
            "width": 975,
            "size": 176000,
            "height": 1280
          },
          {
            "href": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/jsc2007e034221/jsc2007e034221~small.jpg",
            "rel": "alternate",
            "render": "image",
            "width": 487,
            "size": 60000,
            "height": 640
          },
          {
            "href": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/jsc2007e034221/jsc2007e034221~thumb.jpg",
            "rel": "

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`q`	query	Optional	Free-text search across titles, descriptions and keywords. `apollo 11`
`media_type`	query	Optional	`image`, `video` or `audio`, comma separated to combine. `image`
`page_size`	query	Optional	Results per page, up to 100. `20`
`page`	query	Optional	One-based page number. `1`
`center`	query	Optional	NASA centre that produced the asset, such as `JSC`, `KSC` or `JPL`. `JSC`
`year_start / year_end`	query	Optional	Restrict by creation year. `1969`
`nasa_id`	query	Optional	Fetch one specific asset by its NASA identifier. `jsc2007e034221`

Response fields

collection.items[]array: Matched assets. Collection+JSON, so everything is nested one level deeper than you expect.
items[].data[0]object: The metadata object — `title`, `description`, `keywords`, `date_created`, `center`, `nasa_id`, `media_type`. Always a one-element array.
items[].links[]array: Asset URLs with `width`, `height` and `size`, typically thumb, small and medium variants.
items[].hrefstring: URL of the asset manifest listing every available rendition including the original.
collection.metadata.total_hitsinteger: Total matches across all pages.

What you can build with the NASA Image and Video Library API

Add a space image search to an app or site
Pull mission photography for an educational resource
Build a wallpaper or screensaver gallery from NASA imagery
Find historical footage of a specific launch
Enrich space news articles with archive photography

Common errors and how to fix them

Empty items array

The query matched nothing, or filters were too narrow.

Fix: Drop `year_start`/`year_end` first — dates in the archive are often the filing date rather than the capture date.

400

An unsupported parameter or malformed year.

Fix: Years are four digits. Unrecognised parameters are rejected rather than ignored.

Only small images returned

`links` carries preview renditions only.

Fix: Follow `items[].href` to the asset manifest, which lists every rendition including the full-resolution original.

Not everything in the archive is public domain.

Fix: Read the item's `description` — third-party contributions are noted there — and consult NASA's media usage guidelines before commercial use.

NASA Image and Video Library API — frequently asked questions

Does the NASA Images API need an API key?

No. Unlike most api.nasa.gov endpoints it needs no key at all, not even DEMO_KEY, which makes it the simplest NASA data source to start with.

Are NASA images free to use commercially?

Generally yes — NASA material is usually not copyrighted. But the archive includes third-party images with restrictions, and NASA's logos, insignia and mission identifiers have separate rules. Check the item description and NASA's media guidelines before commercial reuse.

How do I get the full-resolution version of an image?

The search response only carries preview renditions. Follow the item's `href` to its asset manifest, which lists every file including the original, then fetch that URL from the assets host.

How is this different from the NASA APOD API?

APOD returns one curated Astronomy Picture of the Day, needs an api.nasa.gov key, and covers a single daily feature. This API searches NASA's entire institutional media archive across every centre and mission, with no key at all.

Tools that pair with this API

JSON Formatter

Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.

Image to Base64 Converter

Convert an image to a Base64 data URL online. Get copy-ready HTML img tags and CSS background-image snippets. Free, instant and fully private.

Aspect Ratio Calculator

Calculate an image's aspect ratio from width and height, and scale to new dimensions without distortion. Includes 16:9, 4:3 and social presets.

Alternatives to NASA Image and Video Library API

If NASA Image and Video Library does not fit, these science & space apis cover similar ground. Every one was called before publishing, and each links to its own reference page with a working curl command and the response it returned.

API	What it does	Auth	CORS	Last verified
NASA APOD	Free NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day API. Daily space images with expert explanations, HD URLs and archive access back to 1995. Tested curl example.	Key	Yes	19 Aug 2026
Open Notify ISS	Free API returning the International Space Station's live latitude and longitude. No key, updates in real time. Tested curl example and live JSON response.	No key	Yes	19 Aug 2026
USGS Earthquake	Free USGS earthquake API with no key: live global seismic events as GeoJSON, filterable by magnitude, time and location. Tested curl example and live response.	No key	Yes	19 Aug 2026
Launch Library 2	Free rocket launch API with no key: upcoming and past launches from every space agency, with rockets, missions, pads and live stream links. Tested example.	No key	Yes	19 Aug 2026
NASA DONKI	Free NASA space weather API: solar flares, coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic storms and radiation belt events with impact analysis. DEMO_KEY works. Tested.	Key	Yes	20 Aug 2026
NASA TechPort	Free NASA TechPort API with no key: metadata for thousands of NASA technology development projects, including descriptions, taxonomy, funding and responsible centres.	No key	No	21 Aug 2026

All Science & Space APIs

NASA Image and Video Library is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 21 Aug 2026; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.