Tiangong · Beijing, China
Tiangong passes over Beijing
The next visible Tiangong pass over Beijing starts on Monday 2 November at 18:16 local time. The station rises in the west-north-west, climbs to 85°, and sets towards the east-south-east after 10m 30s. Beijing gets 6 naked-eye passes in the next seven days.
Computed 01 Nov 2026 11:02 UTC from orbital data of 01 Nov 2026 00:08 UTC. Rebuilt every day.
Visible Tiangong passes over Beijing in the next seven days
| Date | Start | Peak | End | Duration | Max elev. | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 2 November | 18:16 | 18:21 | 18:26 | 10m 30s | 85° | WNW → ESE |
| Wednesday 4 November | 17:53 | 17:58 | 18:03 | 10m 25s | 57° | WNW → ESE |
| Thursday 5 November | 18:30 | 18:35 | 18:40 | 9m 42s | 21° | W → SE |
| Friday 6 November | 17:30 | 17:35 | 17:40 | 10m 11s | 35° | WNW → SE |
| Friday 6 November | 19:08 | 19:11 | 19:15 | 7m 12s | 6° | W → S |
| Saturday 7 November | 18:07 | 18:12 | 18:16 | 8m 48s | 12° | W → SSE |
All times local, 24-hour clock. Only passes with the Sun at least 6° below the horizon and the station itself sunlit are listed — the ones you can actually see.
The best pass of the week is on Monday 2 November: rising at 18:16 in the WNW, peaking at 85° in the SSW around 18:21, over by 18:26. That is the one to put a reminder on.
Why Tiangong is a good target from Beijing
Tiangong's orbit is inclined 41.47°, so its ground track never reaches further north than 41.5° latitude. Beijing sits close to that band, which is why the station regularly climbs to 70–90° here instead of skimming the horizon the way it does from northern Europe. A near-overhead pass is not brighter, but it is longer, crosses the whole sky, and is far harder to miss behind a building or a tree.
At around 100 tonnes it is roughly a quarter of the ISS mass, and peaks at magnitude 0 to +1 rather than −4: a steady, unblinking point, dimmer than the ISS but unmistakable once you know where to look.
How the times are calculated
Every number comes from the current two-line element set, propagated with SGP4 and converted to the local horizon with a full topocentric correction. The element set used here is from 01 November 2026, 00:08 UTC. A TLE stays accurate for a few days; reboosts shift the times by seconds, so check the live tracker on the day itself.
Other Chinese cities
- Tiangong passes over Shanghai
- Tiangong passes over Guangzhou
- Tiangong passes over Shenzhen
- Tiangong passes over Chengdu
- Tiangong passes over Chongqing
- Tiangong passes over Hangzhou
- Tiangong passes over Wuhan
- Tiangong passes over Xi'an
- Tiangong passes over Tianjin
- Tiangong passes over Hong Kong
Questions
Can I see Tiangong from Beijing tonight?
Yes — the next visible pass is on Monday 2 November at 18:16 local time.
Is it brighter than the ISS?
No. The ISS reaches −4; Tiangong is about 0 to +1. What Tiangong has from China is altitude: more passes, higher in the sky.
Do I need binoculars?
No. Tiangong is a naked-eye object on any pass above ~30°; binoculars only make the dot slightly larger.