The sky is infrastructure.
It is also cluttered.
See what's above you, right now
Point Unseen Orbits at any place on Earth and it shows the satellites and tracked debris passing overhead — the working machines behind communication, navigation, imaging, weather and crewed flight, alongside the dead satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments they leave behind.
The debris up there won't fall on you
Almost none of it ever reaches the ground. It orbits hundreds of kilometres overhead, and the little that does come down mostly burns up on the way. What you’re seeing is orbital history — something to be curious about, not afraid of.
You always know how sure it is
Positions are estimates from public data, and they drift as that data ages. You see only the few thousand objects large enough to track— not every fragment — and “above your horizon” never means you can see it. When something is uncertain, it says so; see how.
A space tracker, not a weather app
No clouds, no forecast, nothing about your day down here — just what is moving through space above your location, and why each object is up there.
Open data you can check yourself
Everything is built from public sources — orbital data from CelesTrak, places from OpenStreetMap, map outlines from Natural Earth, and debris context from NASA and ESA. Nothing proprietary, nothing hidden.
Frequently asked questions
How Unseen Orbits works, in plain terms — and where it is uncertain. We would rather be honest than impressive.
How do you use my location?
We use your selected location only to calculate which publicly tracked orbital objects are above your local horizon. You can use your browser location, search any place, or type coordinates. Your location is stored on your device and never required — you can clear it in Settings at any time.
Where does the orbital data come from?
Orbital element data comes from CelesTrak, a long-standing public source. These “GP” element sets describe the estimated orbits of publicly cataloged Earth-orbiting objects. Object identity and classification come from the CelesTrak SATCAT.
CelesTrak refreshes orbital data about every 2 hours and its catalog metadata once or twice a day. We fetch on that schedule through a server-side cache and never from your browser, to respect their usage policy.
What objects are included?
A curated few thousand objects: crewed and space-station objects, bright naked-eye satellites, weather, science, navigation, and geostationary satellites, recent launches, and the major tracked debris groups — rocket bodies, inactive payloads, fragments, and unknown objects.
What is not included?
Not all debris is tracked. More than 25,000 objects larger than 10 cm are cataloged, but an estimated half a million objects between 1–10 cm and over 100 million larger than 1 mm are not individually tracked. We say “tracked debris” and “publicly cataloged objects,” never “all debris.” Some restricted or classified objects may also be missing or have limited metadata.
How do you calculate what is above me?
We combine orbital elements, your location, and the current time to estimate each object’s position using SGP4 propagation — the standard model for these element sets. This runs in your browser, in a background thread. An object is “above” you when its computed elevation is greater than 0° over your local horizon.
Is “above the horizon” the same as “visible”?
No. An object can be above your horizon without being visible. To be seen with the naked eye it must be sunlit while your sky is dark, and bright enough. Most tracked debris is small and never naked-eye visible. We label visibility conservatively — when in doubt, we say it is not visible.
Why can predictions be imperfect?
Predictions are estimates. Accuracy depends on how fresh the orbital elements are, and degrades if an object maneuvers, is dragged by the atmosphere, or has recently launched or fragmented. We show each object’s element epoch and a confidence label, and we deprioritize objects with stale data.
How is debris significance scored?
Debris does not get a “worth looking up” score, because most of it is not visible. Instead we score historical and orbital significance: membership in a known breakup or collision event, size, altitude and expected lifetime, and age in orbit. This is about context and history, never danger.
What are your sources?
Orbital data: CelesTrak. Location search: Photon and Nominatim, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Propagation: satellite.js (SGP4). Map outlines: Natural Earth. Debris population figures: NASA Orbital Debris Program Office and ESA.