Earth satellites
Spacecraft provide communications, navigation, observation and science. Above Us displays active objects from an open catalog and lets you explore their motion.
What the map shows
Each point represents an object with orbital elements in the CelesTrak catalog. Search for a satellite by name, NORAD catalog number or COSPAR identifier, then inspect its orbit. Your browser calculates the displayed position for the time selected on the timeline.
The active catalog is refreshed regularly, but it is not a list of every object ever launched. An object missing from this catalog is not necessarily nonexistent or already deorbited.
Above your horizon
“What is above me?” uses your chosen location to find objects geometrically above the horizon at the calculation time. Naked-eye observation also depends on sunlight, a dark sky, weather and the object’s brightness.