Where is the ISS right now?

The globe and the numbers at the top of this page show it live, updated every second: its latitude and longitude, how high it is, how fast it is going, what it is passing over and whether it is in sunlight. The position comes from the station's latest orbit data and agrees with other trackers to within a couple of kilometres.

About 27,600 km/h (17,100 mph), or 7.66 km every second. It goes round the Earth once every 92 to 93 minutes, about fifteen and a half times a day, so the crew see a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes.

Around 420 km (260 miles) up. The thin outer air slowly drags it down by a few kilometres a month, and engines raise it again a few times a year, so the live height above changes from week to week.

From almost everywhere people live, yes: its orbit crosses every place between about 52° north and south, and it is seen from as far as about 60° north and south as it passes nearby, in summer even further. Pick your place above to get the exact times of the next passes.

The ISS shines with reflected sunlight. You see it when your sky is dark but the station, 420 km up, is still in sunshine: in the hour or two after sunset or before sunrise. Later in the night it is in the Earth's shadow. In summer at higher latitudes the station can stay lit all night, giving several passes in a row.

A bright, steady white point moving smoothly across the sky, faster than any plane at height, with no blinking lights. It takes a few minutes to cross. At its brightest it outshines every star and planet except Venus, and it can fade out in mid-sky as it enters the Earth's shadow.

No. It is easy to see with your eyes alone, even from a city. Just look where the pass says, a minute or two early.

Usually seven, from NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency, living there for about six months at a time. For a few days during crew handovers or private missions there can be ten or more. People have lived aboard without a break since 2 November 2000.

Within about a minute, and usually to the second. They come from the same orbit data professional trackers use, refreshed several times a day. When the station fires its engines to raise its orbit, times can shift until the new data is published.