Passeport Cosmique

What is passing overhead right now

The ISS orbits at about 420 km altitude, moving 7.66 km per second. One lap every 92 minutes, 15.5 laps a day.

7.66 kilometres per second

The station circles at 420 km altitude, covering 27,600 km per hour — London to Paris in under a minute.

One orbit every 92 minutes

It laps the Earth 15.5 times a day, so the crew sees 16 sunrises. That is why they keep to Coordinated Universal Time and cover the windows.

Continuously crewed since November 2000

Not one day empty since. Someone is up there as you read this.

You can see it unaided

Just after sunset or before dawn, a bright point crossing the sky at steady speed, never blinking — that is the station.

See where the ISS is now
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