Starlink tracker — the whole constellation, live

This is the one place to answer every Starlink-in-the-sky question: when you can see it, how often it passes, what it looks like, and whether that line of lights you just sawwas the train — each answered below with Cosmik's live data.

What you can do with the Starlink tracker

• See the full constellation — every Starlink satellite as a live moving object, filterable on the 3D and flat map views.
• Catch the Starlink train — find the latest batch flying in formation and when it crosses your sky.
• Overhead right now — which Starlink satellites are above your horizon at this second.
• Launch alerts — free push or email alerts before every Starlink launch, ~2 per week.

When can you see Starlink over you?

The best window is the hour or two after sunset or before sunrise, when the satellites are still catching sunlight while your sky is dark. Where you are matters: from a dark rural sky you'll see far more than from a bright city, and passes are timed to your exact latitude and longitude. Allow location access on the live sky view and Cosmik computes the real pass times for wherever you are — which Starlink satellites rise, when, and how high — and shows which satellites are brightest tonight. Individual Starlink satellites are faint once they reach their operating orbit, but a fresh Starlink train in the first days after a launch is unmistakable.

How often does Starlink pass overhead?

Constantly. With 10,733 Starlink satellites in orbit, several are above your horizon at almost any moment, and on a clear night you can expect multiple bright naked-eye passes in the dark hours around dawn and dusk. The exact number depends on your latitude — higher latitudes get more passes because more orbital shells sweep overhead. Rather than a generic table, Cosmik computes your passes live from current orbital data on the sky view.

What does Starlink look like in the sky at night?

A single Starlink satellite looks like a faint, steady star gliding smoothly across the sky over a few minutes, with no blinking— that's the giveaway versus an aircraft, which flashes red and green. It doesn't leave a trail like a meteor, and it moves far slower than a shooting star. A fresh post-launch batch is the dramatic version: a straight line of evenly spaced white dots moving together, like a string of pearls. If you can't tell what you saw, the what-is-that-light-in-the-sky guide walks every option.

How to see the Starlink train

The train is a batch of 20–60 newly launched satellites still flying in a tight line before they climb into their shells and disperse — it's brightest in the first couple of nights after a launch. To catch it: watch 1–2 hours after sunset or before sunrise, face a clear low horizon away from city lights, and no telescope is needed. The block at the top of this page flags when a fresh train is up; the full Starlink train guide covers direction and timing, and the sky view gives the exact pass time over you. Check the next SpaceX launch to know when a new train goes up.

Is that a line of lights, a string of lights, or white lights in a row?

If you saw a row of white lights moving silently in a straight line— a string of lights, a chain of dots, or "lights in a row" crossing the sky — it was almost certainly the Starlink train. It's the most-reported "UFO" in the world for exactly this reason. Quick identification: a line of evenly spaced steady dots = Starlink train; a single steady dot = one satellite or the ISS; random blinking coloured lights = an aircraft; one fixed bright "star" = a planet. To be certain, the identification guideuses Cosmik's live data to tell you what is actually passing over you right now.

How many Starlink satellites are up there?

Right now 10,733 Starlink satellites are active in orbit — the live count Cosmik computes hourly from the official CelesTrak catalogue, the same data behind this tracker. It is by far the largest satellite constellation ever flown, and SpaceX adds 20–60 more every few days. See the full breakdown by orbital shell and launch cadence on how many Starlink satellites there are.

Data & the bigger picture

Cosmik propagates public orbital elements (CelesTrak TLEs, SGP4 model) in your browser, so positions update live without any app. Curious how the constellation is built? See how the shells and orbits work, follow upcoming SpaceX launches and Vandenberg launches, or zoom out to all 20,000+ tracked satellites.

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