The International Space Station orbits Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 408 kilometers, traveling at 28,000 km/h. NASA's High Definition Earth Viewing experiment streams live footage from multiple external cameras, giving you a real-time astronaut's-eye view of our planet — sunrises every 45 minutes, city lights at night, and weather systems rolling across continents.
The ISS is the largest human-made object in space, spanning the size of a football field. It has been continuously occupied since November 2000 and represents the collaboration of 15 nations. You can watch it all live, right now.
NASA: ISS Live Stream
🛸 ISS HD Earth Viewing
Watch Earth rotate beneath the International Space Station in real-time HD. See thunderstorms from above, aurora ribbons at the poles, and sunrises every 45 minutes.
Watch Live →🔭 Spot the Station
Find out when the ISS will pass over your location. It's the third brightest object in the sky and visible to the naked eye — enter your city to get sighting times.
Find Sighting Times →What You Can See
- Sunrises & Sunsets — The ISS experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets every day; the transition from day to night takes just seconds.
- City Lights — At night, see the glowing outlines of cities, highways, and coastlines illuminated from space.
- Aurora Borealis & Australis — Watch shimmering curtains of green and purple light dance at the poles from directly above.
- Thunderstorms — Lightning flashes illuminate massive storm systems, revealing their scale from 400 km up.
- The Thin Blue Line — Earth's atmosphere appears as a razor-thin blue band along the horizon, a humbling reminder of its fragility.
💡 Pro Tip
The screen goes dark when the ISS is on the night side of Earth (about 45 minutes per orbit). Wait a few minutes and you'll see either city lights below or a stunning orbital sunrise. Gray screens mean the cameras are switching or experiencing a signal loss — just wait.
Fascinating Facts
- Football-Field Sized — The ISS measures 109 meters across, making it the largest structure ever built in space and visible to the naked eye from Earth
- Continuous Habitation — Humans have lived aboard the ISS continuously since November 2, 2000 — over 25 years without a break
- Orbital Speed — At 28,000 km/h, astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours and travel the equivalent of a round trip to the Moon every day
- International Effort — 15 nations contributed to building the ISS, and over 270 people from 21 countries have visited it
Enhance Your Virtual Visit
Recommended Gear for Virtual Travel
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Meta Quest 3S VR Headset
Experience Earth from orbit in immersive VR — the closest you can get to being an astronaut.
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"Endurance" by Scott Kelly
Astronaut Scott Kelly's memoir of his record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station.