Flight operations · Windows

Launchpad

A ground-station tool for drone light show crews. It checks the show's path files before launch, works out the flight parameters DSS needs, and gathers the flight logs afterward.

Download for Windows

Latest version · Windows 10 or 11 · No installer

What it does

The checks before launch, and the records after.

Check the path files
Point it at a show folder and see the drone count, grid, duration and altitude at a glance, with spacing and speed problems flagged in red.
Build the flight parameters
Works out the parameters each show needs and writes the staggered takeoff and landing file, ready to load into DSS.
Collect the logs
After the show, gathers the flight logs into one place for review.

Getting started

Onto the flight server in three steps.

Download it
Use any computer with internet. You get a single file, launchpad.exe.
Carry it over
Copy the file to a USB drive and move it to the flight server. The flight server doesn't need internet, Python or an installer.
Double-click it
Launchpad opens straight away. Keep the file anywhere you like; the desktop is fine.

If Windows warns you the first time

Launchpad is new, so Windows and your browser don't recognize it yet. That's expected.

If your browser says the file isn't commonly downloaded, open the download's menu and choose Keep.
If a blue Windows protected your PC screen appears when you open it, click More info, then Run anyway.

You only do this once per computer, and once per new version.

Check the file is genuine (optional)

Every release lists a fingerprint (a SHA-256 hash). If the file was changed or damaged on the way, the fingerprint won't match.

This version's fingerprint:

Shown here once the release details load.

To check yours, open PowerShell in the folder with the file and run:

Get-FileHash .\launchpad.exe

The long code it prints should match the one above.

Questions or feature requests: drew@finchsong.studio