ISS is often visible from Earth. Your guide to spot the station

Sept. 2, 2026, 6:53 a.m. ET

The ISS is commonly seen from Earth with the bare eye, showing as a vibrant, fast-moving mild within the sky.
NASA provides a “Spot the Station” cellular app to assist folks observe when the ISS can be seen from their location.
Seven astronauts reside and dealing aboard the area station, however 4 are as a consequence of depart following the arrival of the now-delayed joint NASA and SpaceX mission generally known as Crew-13.

It is seemingly going to be awhile till you possibly can watch the next group of astronauts head to the International Space Station.

NASA and SpaceX have opted to indefinitely delay the launch of a mission generally known as Crew-13 as groups work to restore the Dragon spacecraft due to transport 4 astronauts to the orbital outpost.

Within the meantime, which means the mission’s crew members will – like the remainder of us – must content material themselves with seeing the ISS from a whole lot of miles away. Happily, the long-lasting nearly 26-year-old station is a comparatively straightforward fixture to identify in Earth’s orbit.

As a result of the station orbits Earth as soon as each 90 minutes, the crew on board sees 16 sunrises and sunsets each day. That additionally means the space station, touring at dizzying speeds of about 17,500 mph, is routinely seen to spectators on the bottom.

Here’s everything to know concerning the Worldwide House Station, and the way to spot it from Earth earlier than the aging outpost is retired and deorbited within the years forward.

What’s the Worldwide House Station?

The International Space Station has been stationed in low-Earth orbit for greater than 25 years, sometimes about 260 miles excessive, the place it has been home to astronauts from all over the world. All through its lifespan, the station has served as a check mattress for scientific analysis in microgravity and has in years previous opened itself as much as private commercial missions.

The orbital laboratory is operated through a global partnership of area businesses, together with NASA, Roscosmos, the European House Company, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Company and the Canadian House Company.

Greater than 290 spacefarers from 26 nations have visited the Worldwide House Station, including 173 from the United States alone, based on NASA. Whereas aboard the ISS, astronauts from all around the world not solely assist keep the aging station operational, however put together for people to enterprise deeper into area.

When to see the area station from Earth

The Worldwide House Station, which completes 16 orbits of Earth per day, is recurrently seen to spectators across the globe.

One of the best time to identify the orbital outpost is inside a couple of hours earlier than or after each dawn and sundown, based on NASA. That is as a result of the station displays daylight just like the moon, however is not vibrant sufficient to see in the course of the day.

If you happen to don’t dwell within the excessive north or south of the world, you could possibly spot the ISS not less than as soon as a month – and even perhaps extra steadily, based on the Planetary Society.

How will you observe the ISS? There’s an app for that

NASA’s “Spot the Station” cellular app permits customers to obtain notifications for when the Worldwide House Station passes over their respective areas. The app additionally gives real-time monitoring knowledge.

The cellular app is offered to obtain totally free in Apple’s App Store for iPhone customers and, for Android customers, on Google Play.

The European House Company has additionally developed an online tracker you possibly can bookmark in your desktop that exhibits the place the station is at any given time. The device even exhibits the station’s path within the earlier 90 minutes, in addition to its path 90 minutes forward.

How will you spot the area station in orbit? Do you want binoculars?

Ensure you have an unimpeded view of the sky to catch the ISS passing overhead. The station’s orbit makes it seem as whether it is touring from west to east.

The “Spot the Station” app will let you know precisely the place within the sky the ISS will seem and the way excessive within the sky will probably be.

No particular gear is required to identify the station, which might simply be seen with the bare eye. Binoculars and telescopes, although, will present an enhanced view that would even unveil particulars just like the station’s photo voltaic arrays and particular person modules, based on the Planetary Society.

How vibrant is the ISS? What does it appear to be from Earth?

The Worldwide House Station can below sure circumstances be among the many brightest objects within the sky – outshined solely by the solar and moon. Which means it is even brighter than Venus, the brightest planet within the sky.

This is not as a result of the ISS provides off a lot of its personal mild, however as a result of – with its array of photo voltaic panels – it’s distinctive at reflecting daylight off it, based on the Planetary Society.

If you happen to spot it, the area station ought to seem as a strong vibrant mild whizzing throughout the evening sky.

What astronauts are on the Worldwide House Station?

Seven astronauts who’re a part of Expedition 75 reside and dealing aboard the Worldwide House Station.

That features 4 people who find themselves a part of the Crew-12 mission that docked in mid-February: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, in addition to the European House Company’s Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The Crew-12 contingent are as a consequence of depart in September following the arrival of Crew-13.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon arrived in mid-July at the space station with Russians Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina on a Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for an eight-month mission.

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