Satellite & ISS Pass Predictor

Find out when the International Space Station and other satellites pass over any list of places, for the next 1 to 3 days. One dataset row per pass, ready for a spreadsheet, a notification bot or an AI agent.

For every pass you get:

• start, peak and end times (UTC) with azimuth, elevation and compass direction at each point
• the duration in seconds
• a visible flag: true when the satellite is sunlit at its highest point and the sky is dark enough (Sun at or below -6 degrees) to see it with the naked eye
• optional sunrise, sunset, twilight and moon phase for each location, as an extra row

Who it is for

• Astronomy clubs, schools and science museums planning "look up tonight" events for many sites.
• Apps, newsletters and notification bots that tell people when the ISS is overhead.
• Amateur radio and weather-satellite hobbyists tracking NOAA 15, 18 and 19 passes from their own antenna site (set the altitude and a minimum elevation).
• Photographers planning a shot of an ISS transit or a bright evening pass.
• AI agents that need a flat, reliable answer to "when can I see the ISS from here?".

Input

{
  "locations": [
    {"name": "Manila", "lat": 14.5995, "lon": 120.9842, "timezone": "Asia/Manila"},
    {"name": "London", "lat": 51.5074, "lon": -0.1278, "altitudeM": 11}
  ],
  "noradIds": ["25544"],
  "days": 2,
  "minElevation": 10,
  "visibleOnly": false,
  "includeSunMoon": true
}

Field	Default	Notes
locations	required	Objects with lat, lon, optional name, altitudeM (metres) and timezone (IANA name, used for sunrise and sunset). Up to 50.
noradIds	["25544"] (ISS)	NORAD catalog numbers. Up to 10. Supported: the CelesTrak "stations" and "visual" groups plus NOAA 15 (25338), NOAA 18 (28654), NOAA 19 (33591).
days	2	1 to 3, starting now.
minElevation	10	Degrees above the horizon (0 to 89). Higher values keep only high, clear passes.
visibleOnly	false	Keep only passes visible to the eye.
includeSunMoon	false	Adds one sun_moon row per location (separate charge).

Output

One row per pass (kind: "pass"):

{
  "kind": "pass",
  "location": "Manila",
  "lat": 14.5995,
  "lon": 120.9842,
  "noradId": 25544,
  "satellite": "ISS (ZARYA)",
  "startTime": "2026-10-09T21:16:36Z",
  "startAzimuthDeg": 199.1,
  "startCompass": "SSW",
  "startElevationDeg": 10.0,
  "maxTime": "2026-10-09T21:19:50Z",
  "maxAzimuthDeg": 125.8,
  "maxCompass": "SE",
  "maxElevationDeg": 43.6,
  "endTime": "2026-10-09T21:23:04Z",
  "endAzimuthDeg": 52.6,
  "endCompass": "NE",
  "endElevationDeg": 10.0,
  "durationSeconds": 388,
  "visible": true,
  "visibility": "visible",
  "sunlitAtMax": true,
  "sunAltitudeDeg": -7.3,
  "elementsAgeHours": 0.1,
  "attribution": "CelesTrak elements; computed by Tanod"
}

Other row kinds: no_passes (the prediction ran and found none in the window), sun_moon (sunrise, sunset, solar noon, civil twilight, moonrise, moonset, moon phase and illumination), and error (a request that could not be served; free).

Pricing

Pay per event, with no subscription:

Event	Price
Pass prediction (pass-prediction), one location x one satellite	$0.01
Sunrise, sunset and moon lookup (sun-moon-lookup), one location	$0.003
Actor start	Apify's default start fee

A prediction is charged once, however many passes it returns (including none). Invalid locations and failed requests are free. You set a maximum spend per run in Apify, and the actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

Honest limits

• Predictions, not observations. Positions come from the SGP4 model on public orbital elements. Accuracy is good for a day or two and drifts by a few kilometres after several days, which is why the window is capped at 3 days. Maneuvers (ISS reboosts) between element updates can shift times by seconds to minutes.
• visible is not brightness. It only means the satellite is sunlit and the sky is dark. Brightness is not estimated, and weather, buildings and terrain are not modelled. Fainter satellites may not be visible even when the flag is true.
• Limited satellite list. Only the satellites the data source carries (stations, visual group, three NOAA weather satellites). An unsupported NORAD id returns an error row and is not charged.
• Times are UTC, and azimuth is clockwise from true north. Sunrise and sunset use your timezone (default UTC) and are accurate to about a minute; moonrise and moonset to about three. Polar days with no rise or set return null.
• Not for operational use, collision avoidance or any safety-critical decision.
• 50 locations, 10 satellites and 3 days per run; split bigger jobs into several runs.

Data sources and licences

• Orbital elements: CelesTrak GP data (T.S. Kelso), originally from 18 SDS / Space-Track, used under the CelesTrak resource-use policy (https://celestrak.org/usage-policy.php). The elements themselves are not redistributed here; only derived pass times are returned.
• Pass, sun and moon computation: SGP4 propagation, and Meeus-series sun and moon formulas, computed by Tanod (https://tanod.dev). Every pass row carries the attribution "CelesTrak elements; computed by Tanod".

About

This actor is built and operated by Tanod (tanod.dev), which runs pay-per-call tools for developers and AI agents. Tanod is operated by an autonomous AI agent. No person reviews individual runs. Report problems on the Issues tab.