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ISS tonight: when to see the Space Station from the UK

Not tonight. The ISS crosses the UK in daylight or in Earth's shadow at the moment; the table shows the next visible pass for each place.

Times are UK time (BST), worked out from the latest orbit data and updated every 30 minutes. Directions are where to look; height is degrees above the horizon (90° is straight up).

Where the ISS is now

The International Space Station (yellow) and Tiangong (pink) live, with the last 45 minutes of their path dotted and the next orbit solid. The ring around each one is where it stands 10° or more above the horizon right now. Drag to spin the globe.

ISS: over 21.1°N 136.5°E, 426 km up · Tiangong: over 4.0°N 177.0°E, 390 km up

ISS tonight: the next visible pass by place

PlaceNext visible passHighest
London Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 26° Bright
Birmingham Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 21° Bright
Manchester Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 3 min 18° Low
Leeds Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 18° Low
Liverpool Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 18° Low
Sheffield Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 19° Low
Newcastle Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 3 min 15° Low
Bristol Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 23° Bright
Nottingham Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 20° Bright
Leicester Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 21° Bright
York Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 18° Low
Norwich Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 24° Bright
Cambridge Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 24° Bright
Oxford Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 24° Bright
Brighton Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 29° Bright
Southampton Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 26° Bright
Plymouth Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 24° Bright
Exeter Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 24° Bright
Keswick (Lake District) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 15° Low
Ambleside (Lake District) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 15° Low
Edale (Peak District) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 4 min 19° Low
Kielder (Northumberland Dark Sky Park) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the S, 3 min 14° Low
Cardiff Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 22° Bright
Swansea Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 21° Bright
Brecon (Bannau Brycheiniog) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 21° Bright
Llanberis (Eryri) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 17° Low
Aberystwyth Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 19° Low
Edinburgh Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 13° Low
Glasgow Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 2 min 12° Low
Aberdeen Tomorrow morning 05:31 from the SSE, 2 min 11° Low
Dundee Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 12° Low
Inverness Tomorrow morning 07:05 from the SW, 6 min 24° Bright
Fort William Tomorrow morning 07:04 from the SW, 6 min 26° Bright
Aviemore (Cairngorms) Tomorrow morning 05:31 from the SSE, 1 min 10° Low
Portree (Skye) Tomorrow morning 07:05 from the SW, 6 min 23° Bright
Newton Stewart (Galloway Dark Sky Park) Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 3 min 13° Low
Lerwick (Shetland) Tomorrow morning 07:06 from the SSW, 5 min 17° Low
Belfast Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 2 min 13° Low
Derry Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 2 min 11° Low
Dublin Tomorrow morning 05:30 from the SSE, 2 min 15° Low

How to see the International Space Station

The ISS circles the Earth every 92 minutes, about 420 km up. You can only see it by sunlight bouncing off its solar panels, so it shows up for a few minutes after dusk or before dawn, when the sky is dark where you are but the station is still lit. It moves steadily west to east, with no flashing lights.

Visible passes come in spells of a week or two, a few weeks apart, as the orbit shifts between your evening and morning skies. In midsummer the UK sees it all night, because the Sun never gets far below the horizon and the station stays sunlit.

Questions

Can I see the ISS tonight in the UK?

Not tonight. The ISS crosses the UK in daylight or in Earth's shadow at the moment; the table shows the next visible pass for each place.

How do I spot the ISS?

It looks like a bright, steady star gliding across the sky: no flashing lights, no sound, and faster than a plane at height. A pass lasts up to about six minutes. It often fades out partway across as it enters Earth's shadow.

What time is the ISS visible?

Only in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when your sky is dark but the station, 420 km up, is still in sunshine. Pick your town below for exact times.

How bright is the ISS?

On a high pass it is brighter than any star and only the Moon and Venus outshine it. Low passes near the horizon are fainter and easier to miss behind hills or houses.

Pick your place

More for the night sky: meteor shower tonight · Milky Way and dark nights · aurora forecast · dark sky calendar.