How to Spot the International Space Station from Your Backyard

The International Space Station (ISS) can be seen without a telescope. Its visibility depends on timing and location, and NASA publishes viewing times for both.

Why it is visible

The station is visible because it reflects light from the Sun, in the same way the Moon does.^[1] For that reason, NASA states that all sightings occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset, when the station is sunlit but the sky below it is dark.^[2]

How often

NASA says that, depending on location, the station may be visible several times a week or only once or twice a month.^[1]

Finding a pass

1. Open NASA's Spot the Station service (website or mobile app) and enter a location to see upcoming sightings.^[2]
2. Note the start time and where the station will appear.
3. Go outdoors a few minutes early with a clear view of the sky.

Recognizing the station

NASA describes the station as appearing similar to an airplane or a very bright star moving across the night sky, except that it has no flashing lights and does not change direction.^[2] It travels at about five miles per second, completing 16 orbits of Earth every 24 hours.^[3]

About the station

The ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2, 2000, and orbits approximately 250 miles above Earth at 17,500 miles per hour.^[4] More than 280 astronauts from 26 countries have visited, and NASA describes the station as a state-of-the-art scientific laboratory.^[4]

The European Space Agency gives the station's altitude as 400 kilometers and its speed as 28,800 kilometers per hour, with one orbit taking 92 minutes, and notes that Earth's rotation shifts the ground track about 2,200 kilometers west on each orbit.^[5] The Canadian Space Agency describes the station as the second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon, crossing the sky without blinking lights.^[6]