ISS passes · Cape Town, South Africa
Visible ISS passes over Cape Town
The next visible pass over Cape Town starts on Thursday 29 October at 19:53 local time. The station appears in the south-west, climbs to 57° above the horizon and disappears towards the north-east after 10m 51s.
Computed 29 Oct 2026 16:43 UTC from orbital data of 28 Oct 2026 11:12 UTC. Rebuilt every day.
Visible ISS passes over Cape Town in the next seven days
| Date | Start | Peak | End | Duration | Max elev. | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday 29 October | 19:53 | 19:59 | 20:04 | 10m 51s | 57° | SW → NE |
| Friday 30 October | 20:44 | 20:48 | 20:52 | 8m 03s | 8° low | WSW → N |
| Saturday 31 October | 19:56 | 20:00 | 20:05 | 9m 34s | 16° | WSW → N |
All times are local (Africa/Johannesburg), 24-hour clock. “Direction” is where the station enters and leaves the sky. Only passes where the Sun is at least 6° below the horizon and the station itself is in sunlight are listed — the ones you can actually see.
The best pass of the week is on Thursday 29 October: it starts at 19:53 in the SW, peaks at 57° in the NW around 19:59, and is over by 20:04. That is the one to put a reminder on.
How to watch it from Cape Town
- Go out two minutes early. The station moves fast enough that a late start usually means you catch only the end of the pass.
- Face the direction in the table. On an ascending pass it travels roughly west-southwest to east-northeast; on a descending pass the other way round.
- No equipment needed. A bright pass looks like a steady white dot, brighter than any star, crossing the sky in about 10m 51s without blinking. Binoculars make it bigger but not more interesting.
- Give your eyes a minute. Look away from street lights and phone screens; the station is easy to see even from a city centre, but a dark spot makes the pass unmistakable.
- Watch the colour. Low passes near the horizon can turn orange or red as sunlight filters through the atmosphere — the same effect as a sunset, because that is exactly what you are seeing.
Why the ISS skips Cape Town for weeks at a time
Seeing the station needs two things at once: it has to be above your horizon, and it has to be sunlit while your sky is dark. The station orbits at 51.6° inclination, so from Cape Town (33.9° south) its ground track shifts west every orbit. For a week or two the evening passes line up with the twilight window and you get a run of good sightings; then the geometry drifts and the station is only up there during the day.
Cape Town sees the station on the descending part of its track, often towards the north-west.
How these times are calculated
Every number on this page comes from the current CelesTrak two-line element set (TLE), propagated with SGP4 — the same model NASA and most tracking apps use — and converted to your local horizon with a full topocentric correction. The element set used here is from 28 October 2026, 11:12 UTC. A TLE is good for a few days; over a week the predicted times can drift by a minute or so, and a reboost of the station shifts everything by a few seconds. Check the live tracker on the day itself.
Nearby cities
- ISS passes over São Paulo (6345 km)
- ISS passes over Dubai (7640 km)
- ISS passes over Athens (8015 km)
- ISS passes over Mumbai (8243 km)
- ISS passes over Naples (8326 km)
- ISS passes over Valencia (8387 km)
Questions
Can I see the ISS from Cape Town tonight?
Yes — the next visible pass is on Thursday 29 October at 19:53 local time.
How bright is it?
On a pass above 40° the station is typically magnitude −3 to −4, comparable to Venus and bright enough to be followed easily from a lit street. A 15° pass near the horizon is dimmer, more like a bright star, and easier to mistake for an aircraft — but aircraft blink and the station does not.
Does it make a sound?
No. At 400 km the station is far above the atmosphere you hear, and it travels faster than sound could carry anything towards you.
Page generated 29 October 2026, 18:43 (Africa/Johannesburg). Data: CelesTrak TLE, SGP4 propagation, local horizon correction.