ISS
International Space Station is a low Earth orbit habitable artificial satellite project, started by the space agencies of USA, Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada, Brazil and Italy, back in 1998.
ISS orbit
ISS may be observed with a naked eye, moving at low Earth orbit with an altitude between 330 km and 435 km, orbital inclination of ∠51.65° and an average orbital speed of 27 600 km/h (17 100 mph). Every day the space station loses about 100 m of its altitude because of atmospheric resistance, that is why orbital corrections are made often.
Where is ISS now?
Plot image of current position of International Space Station in its orbit around the Earth. Follow the next links and explore current ISS position, to know when to look to the sky and search for it. If clear of clouds, you may see it crossing the sky above you.
(External links to ISS position plots open in a new browser window.)
300 px | 600 px | 900 px
ISS altitude
Plot of latest year change history of mean orbital altitude of International Space Station.
(External links to ISS orbital altitude plots open in a new browser window.)
600 px | 900 px
ISS live
Explore what is happening aboard now, watch the ISS live webcam.
Sources and credits
International Space Station position and orbital height plots courtesy of Chris Peat, Heavens Above GmbH, heavens-above.com
International Space Station page on English Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org