The local space context of Brussels 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 | 50.850° N, 4.349° E | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 1,019,022 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| V-2 launch area, Serooskerke, Walcheren, Holland | 94 km NW (326°) | 51.551° N, 3.590° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Beukenhorst mansion, Vught, Nederlanden | 108 km NE (37°) | 51.624° N, 5.289° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch areas, Fraiture, Vielsalm, Ardennes | 119 km ESE (123°) | 50.258° N, 5.752° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch areas, Houffalize, Belgium | 136 km SE (131°) | 50.040° N, 5.790° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area near Den Haag-Wassenaar | 142 km N (1°) | 52.130° N, 4.380° E | gcat-sites |
| Unknown V2 WWII launch site, Europe | 150 km SE (128°) | 50.000° N, 6.000° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Euskirchen, Deutschland | 174 km E (96°) | 50.650° N, 6.800° E | gcat-sites |
| Camp de Suippes, Marne, France | 190 km S (176°) | 49.150° N, 4.530° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Remscheid | 203 km ENE (78°) | 51.180° N, 7.200° E | gcat-sites |
| Artillerie Schietkamp, t'Harde | 203 km NNE (32°) | 52.395° N, 5.923° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Merzig, N of Saar | 224 km SE (133°) | 49.450° N, 6.600° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area at Hellendoorn/Eelerberg | 225 km NE (39°) | 52.410° N, 6.430° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area at Hermeskeil | 225 km SE (125°) | 49.650° N, 6.900° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Zwolle-Hellendoorn-Enschede | 225 km NE (39°) | 52.400° N, 6.450° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Enschede, Nederlanden | 233 km NE (48°) | 52.220° N, 6.890° E | gcat-sites |
| … and 23 more within 1000 km | |||
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, 15,720 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 50.850° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 7,531 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 31.8° 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 Brussels in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.