ISS passes · London, United Kingdom
Visible ISS passes over London
The next visible pass over London starts on Friday 30 October at 05:24 local time. The station appears in the west-north-west, climbs to 29° above the horizon and disappears towards the south-east after 10m 29s.
Computed 29 Oct 2026 16:43 UTC from orbital data of 28 Oct 2026 11:12 UTC. Rebuilt every day.
Visible ISS passes over London in the next seven days
| Date | Start | Peak | End | Duration | Max elev. | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 30 October | 05:24 | 05:29 | 05:35 | 10m 29s | 29° | WNW → SE |
| Sunday 1 November | 05:26 | 05:31 | 05:35 | 9m 28s | 15° low | W → SSE |
All times are local (Europe/London), 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 Friday 30 October: it starts at 05:24 in the WNW, peaks at 29° in the SSW around 05:29, and is over by 05:35. That is the one to put a reminder on.
How to watch it from London
- 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 29s 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 London 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 London (51.5° north) 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.
British observers are far enough north that the station is often visible low in the north or south without ever coming overhead.
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 Birmingham (162 km)
- ISS passes over Manchester (262 km)
- ISS passes over Ghent (272 km)
- ISS passes over The Hague (311 km)
- ISS passes over Antwerp (316 km)
- ISS passes over Rotterdam (321 km)
Questions
Can I see the ISS from London tonight?
Yes — the next visible pass is on Friday 30 October at 05:24 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, 16:43 (Europe/London). Data: CelesTrak TLE, SGP4 propagation, local horizon correction.