SpaceTRC / Space Age / ISS passes
Can I see the ISS tonight?
The International Space Station is the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. Pick a city or use your location: the tool computes naked-eye passes for the next five days from the station’s current orbit.
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Latitude, longitude · altitude · speed
Orbit data (OMM) epoch: …
Passes for: …
Your location is used only in your browser to compute passes; it is not sent or stored.
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How to watch
Tips for spotting the station
When is it visible?
Only when you are in darkness (Sun more than 6° below the horizon) while the station, 400 km up, is still sunlit. That is why passes happen in the hours after sunset or before sunrise.
What does it look like?
A bright, steady white light moving across the sky in a few minutes. It does not blink like an aircraft. It may fade suddenly as it enters Earth’s shadow.
How good is the pass?
The higher the maximum elevation, the brighter and longer the pass. Above 40° is excellent; below 20° it stays low and buildings may hide it.
Method: SGP4 propagation (satellite.js) of the latest ISS orbit elements from CelesTrak, a 20-second time step, a minimum elevation of 10°, a low-precision solar position and a cylindrical Earth-shadow model. Times can be off by up to a minute; the station also manoeuvres occasionally.