ISS passes · Madrid, Spain
Visible ISS passes over Madrid
The next visible pass over Madrid starts on Friday 30 October at 06:25 local time. The station appears in the north-west, climbs to 35° above the horizon and disappears towards the east-south-east after 10m 44s.
Computed 29 Oct 2026 16:43 UTC from orbital data of 28 Oct 2026 11:12 UTC. Rebuilt every day.
Visible ISS passes over Madrid in the next seven days
| Date | Start | Peak | End | Duration | Max elev. | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 30 October | 06:25 | 06:30 | 06:36 | 10m 44s | 35° | NW → ESE |
| Sunday 1 November | 06:26 | 06:32 | 06:37 | 10m 59s | 89° | NW → SE |
| Tuesday 3 November | 06:28 | 06:33 | 06:39 | 10m 27s | 29° | WNW → SSE |
All times are local (Europe/Madrid), 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 Sunday 1 November: it starts at 06:26 in the NW, peaks at 89° in the SW around 06:32, and is over by 06:37. That is the one to put a reminder on.
How to watch it from Madrid
- 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 59s 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 Madrid 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 Madrid (40.4° 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.
Southern Europe sees the station lower in the sky on average, which makes passes shorter but also means twilight lasts less long in summer.
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 Valencia (303 km)
- ISS passes over Lisbon (502 km)
- ISS passes over Barcelona (505 km)
- ISS passes over Marseille (816 km)
- ISS passes over Lyon (913 km)
- ISS passes over Paris (1053 km)
Questions
Can I see the ISS from Madrid tonight?
Yes — the next visible pass is on Friday 30 October at 06:25 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, 17:43 (Europe/Madrid). Data: CelesTrak TLE, SGP4 propagation, local horizon correction.