How to spot the International Space Station with the naked eye before it deorbits in 2030

The International Space Station has been circling Earth for more than two decades now, serving as humanity's home in orbit, a laboratory, and a one-of-a-kind example of global cooperation in space. But this chapter has almost reached its final phase. NASA has shared that the ISS will be deorbited by the end of 2030, at which point it will be driven into Point Nemo, an isolated area of the Pacific Ocean often used as a spacecraft graveyard. As the countdown to its retirement has started, observers on Earth have a limited time left to watch the iconic space station glide across the sky.

Even as NASA prepares to deorbit ISS, its long-term plans have already started. The agency wants to maintain a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit, but now through commercial space stations. Instead of owning and operating the next generation of orbital platforms, NASA intends to be a customer. This shift has been underway since December 2021, when the agency signed agreements totalling $415.6 billion with three companies—Blue Origin, Nanoracks LLC, and Northrop Grumman—to design privately owned and commercially operated stations.

The ISS has been visited by more than 280 visitors from 26 countries to date and has been home to 4,000+ experiments. With retirement approaching, many sky watchers want to catch a glimpse of it as the space station remains one of the easiest objects to spot with the naked eye. 

NASA’s Spot the Station app provides real-time tracking, viewing alerts, and a schedule of upcoming passes based on your location. The ISS completes about 16 orbits per day, traveling at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) at an orbit inclination of 51.6°, per NASA. 

Viewing opportunities usually occur within a few hours of sunrise or sunset, when sunlight reflects off the station’s structure against a darker sky. In the app, “Time” indicates when the pass begins in your local time zone. “Maximum Height” shows how high it will appear, from 0° at the horizon to 90° directly overhead. “Appears” and “Disappears” mark where in the sky the station will enter and exit your view. For locations north or south of 51.6° latitude, the station won’t travel directly overhead, and the app may occasionally miss certain passes, but a full list of options appears under the “Next Sighting(s) List” on the homepage.

If you’ve never observed it before, the ISS looks like a bright star drifting in a straight line across the sky. Unlike airplanes, it has no blinking lights and doesn’t change direction. The frequency of visibility ranges from once a month to several times a week, depending on the reflection of the Sun's rays off the station as it passes overhead at dawn or dusk at a specified location. Other than NASA’s app, Heavens Above has a 3D interactive tool that tracks the location of the ISS. And in case you are into satellite tracking in general, James Darpinian’s See a Satellite Tonight and Starlink's Satellite Map can help you big time.

With only a few years left before the ISS is guided to its final resting place, now is the perfect time to step outside, look up, and catch one last view of a spacecraft that has shaped a generation of scientific discovery.

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