Track GPS satellites live — the constellation your phone talks to
Every time your phone finds its position, it's listening to satellites 20,000 km overhead. Cosmik shows the whole GPS constellation live in 3D — plus Europe's Galileo, Russia's GLONASS and China's BeiDou — so you can see the machinery of navigation spinning around Earth in real time.
Open the live map → Search “GPS”, “NAVSTAR”, “Galileo” or “BeiDou” in Cosmik.
GPS satellites at a glance
- Operational satellites: ~31 (GPS); ~100+ counting Galileo, GLONASS & BeiDou
- Altitude: 20,180 km (medium Earth orbit)
- Orbital period: 11 h 58 min — two orbits per day
- Inclination: 55°, in six orbital planes
- Operator: US Space Force (GPS)
- First launch: 1978 (Block I); modernised blocks still launching
Can you see GPS satellites with the naked eye?
Not with the naked eye — at 20,000 km they're about 40× farther away than the ISS and far too faint. But watching them in Cosmik's 3D view makes their elegant clockwork obvious: slow, high orbits arranged so at least four satellites are always above your horizon.
Frequently asked questions
How many GPS satellites are there?
Around 31 operational GPS satellites, arranged in six orbital planes so that at least four are visible from any point on Earth — the minimum needed for a position fix.
Can you see GPS satellites at night?
No — they orbit at 20,180 km, far too distant for naked-eye viewing. Satellites you can actually see (ISS, Starlink, Tiangong, Hubble) are all in low Earth orbit below ~600 km.
Related satellites
- NOAA & GOES weather satellite tracker — live in 3D
- HADES-SA (SO-127) — tiny ham-radio satellite tracker
- Iridium satellite tracker — live constellation map
- Starlink Constellation — How Many Satellites Are There?
- Hubble Space Telescope — orbit, facts & visible passes
- Tiangong tracker — see China's space station live
Track more satellites
The ISS · Starlink · Hubble Space Telescope · Tiangong space station · NOAA weather satellites · HADES-SA (SO-127) · Iridium satellites · all 20,000+ objects — see how many satellites are in orbit, track Starlink, or check upcoming rocket launches.
