The local space context of Boston as this registry holds it — the catalogued human footprint on the ground around it, the orbits that can pass overhead, and the geostationary belt seen from here.
| position | 42.358° N, 71.060° W | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 653,833 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Staten Island, 1953 Arctic expedition (Operation MUSHRAT) | 57 km E (82°) | 42.430° N, 70.370° W | gcat-sites |
| North Truro Air Force Station | 91 km ESE (113°) | 42.030° N, 70.050° W | gcat-sites |
| Ninigret State Park (Charlestown NAS), Charlestown, Rhode Island | 122 km SSW (205°) | 41.360° N, 71.670° W | gcat-sites |
| Terrier intercept test area off US Atlantic coast (RI/Mass?) | 244 km SSE (147°) | 40.500° N, 69.500° W | gcat-sites |
| USS Rushmore U. Michigan Cruise 1956 | 262 km S (179°) | 40.000° N, 71.000° W | gcat-sites |
| Plattsburgh AFB, NY | 321 km NW (324°) | 44.653° N, 73.469° W | gcat-sites |
| Plattsburgh AFB or other FB-111 base | 321 km NW (324°) | 44.660° N, 73.460° W | gcat-sites |
| USS Eastwind, 1954 Arctic expedition | 360 km E (93°) | 42.100° N, 66.700° W | gcat-sites |
| USS Staten Island, 1955 Arctic expedition | 401 km E (83°) | 42.670° N, 66.180° W | gcat-sites |
| Vize Expedition 6, 1978 (SU017921) | 589 km SW (216°) | 38.000° N, 75.000° W | gcat-sites |
| 1964 Croatan MRF Expedition | 589 km SW (216°) | 38.000° N, 75.000° W | gcat-sites |
| 1965 Croatan MRF Expedition | 589 km SW (216°) | 38.000° N, 75.000° W | gcat-sites |
| Naval Air Ordnance Test Station, Chincoteague, Virginia | 618 km SW (219°) | 37.938° N, 75.463° W | gcat-sites |
| Wallops Island Main Base, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Chincoteague, Virginia | 618 km SW (219°) | 37.938° N, 75.463° W | gcat-sites |
| Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia | 628 km SW (218°) | 37.830° N, 75.480° W | gcat-sites |
| … and 5 more within 1000 km | |||
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electron | 6x HawkEye 360 | 628 km SW (218°) | 37.833° N, 75.488° W | launchlibrary |
| Neutron | Maiden Flight | 629 km SW (218°) | 37.832° N, 75.490° W | launchlibrary |
Distances are great-circle on a sphere of mean radius 6,371 km; bearings are initial true bearings from the city. Each position is the source catalogue's own, read back from the registry.
Of the 23,251 artificial objects the registry places in Earth orbit on 2026-10-18, 19,911 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 42.358° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 3,340 never reach this latitude.
| space station | inclination | can pass overhead |
|---|---|---|
| Bai Xiang | 85.0° | yes |
| International Space Station (+3 docked records) | 51.6° | yes |
| Kosmos-382 | 55.9° | yes |
| Tianhe | 41.5° | no — its track stops at 41.5° |
Computed: an orbit's equatorial inclination bounds the latitudes its track reaches (inclination i, or 180° − i when retrograde), from the orbital elements the registry holds. «Can pass overhead» is geometry, not a schedule — when, and whether it is lit and visible, depends on the hour.
The geostationary belt arcs across the southern sky and stands 41.1° above the horizon due south — the elevation to aim at for a satellite at this city's own longitude. Computed: spherical Earth (equatorial radius 6,378.137 km), circular orbit of one sidereal day (42,164 km); good to a few tenths of a degree.
/sim.html#sel=EARTH&tn=1,
then stand at Boston in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.