Mission control · Chicago · Est. 2010

Craig Vander Galien

Founder of DrillerDB. I build software that makes it off the pad and into orbit — and I’ve photographed real rockets doing the same.

Go / no-go poll

  • CoffeeGO
  • CuriosityGO
  • WeatherGO
  • ShippingGO
Launch

Mission 01Primary mission

DrillerDB

DrillerDB started inside our family’s well drilling company in Wisconsin. It’s grown into software for the whole operation, and a way to explore the records of what lies underground.

Visit drillerdb.com Well map Underground

Press kitFact sheet — DrillerDB

Payload
23,384,606 well records
Coverage
50 states + Canada
Launch site
A family well drilling company, Wisconsin
Range
From the office to the rig
Status
In orbit

Source: Published DrillerDB figure, Sep 2026. A snapshot, not a live counter.

Mission objectives

  1. DrillerDB’s national well map, showing recorded wells across the United States and southern Canada.

    Put it on the map

    Well depths, water levels, geology, and the original logs. Search the record by address.

    Open the well map
  2. DrillerDB’s Underground visualization: a cut through terrain in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, with rock layers derived from 159 drillers’ logs.

    Look into the ground

    Explore layers in 3D, built from what drillers recorded. See where the evidence reaches, and where it ends.

    Enter the Underground
  3. DrillerDB operations dashboard, with revenue, jobs, scheduling, and field activity.

    Run the whole job

    Quotes, scheduling, field logs, state reports, and invoicing in one place — from the office to the rig.

    Visit drillerdb.com

Onboard systems

  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • iOS & Android
  • Stripe Connect
  • OpenAI

Missions 02–03Featured

Mission 02 · Software

Milky Way Forecast

A better answer to “is tonight the night?”

Moon phase, weather, and cloud cover brought together for night-sky photographers.

Screenshot of Milky Way Forecast
  • Next.js
  • Laravel
Visit milkywayforecast.com

Mission 03 · Software

ARPU Suite

An unusual world. Software that understands it.

Race results, awards, and membership tools for the American Racing Pigeon Union.

Screenshot of ARPU Suite
  • PHP
  • MySQL
  • Next.js
  • Real-time SSE
Visit pigeon-ndb.com

Missions 04–09Manifest

The mission manifest

Smaller payloads, same checklist. Software, experiments, and websites for real businesses — each one launched and flying.

Flight filmPublished in SpaceNews

The real rockets

The optimism on this page is borrowed from the real thing. Two launches, photographed for SpaceNews. Profiled by CNBC with three other rocket photographers

Falcon Heavy lifting above Launch Complex 39A, with an enormous cloud of sunlit exhaust beside the Atlantic Ocean.

Frame 01 · Falcon Heavy · Arabsat-6A ·

Twenty-seven engines. One moment.

Falcon Heavy’s first commercial flight, photographed from Kennedy Space Center.

Read it on SpaceNews
A Falcon 9 carrying Crew Dragon and two NASA astronauts rises above the launch tower against a blue sky.

Frame 02 · Crew Dragon · Demo-2 ·

A new chapter in human spaceflight.

The first crewed orbital launch from the United States in nearly nine years. Photographed for SpaceNews.

Read it on SpaceNews
Portrait of Craig Vander Galien

CrewCommander

Hi, I’m Craig.

I’ve been building for the web since 2010 — that’s 16 years of getting things off the pad.

These days most of my hours go to DrillerDB, which began inside our family’s well drilling company. Along the way I’ve built tools for night-sky photographers, pigeon racers, history lovers and paving contractors, plus websites for drilling companies and their suppliers. And when a rocket goes up, I like to be pointing a camera at it.

Years building
16
Home base
Chicago
Missions flown
9

CommsChannel open

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Questions about DrillerDB, a project idea, or a launch photo you’d like to talk about — send a transmission.