The local space context of Essen 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 | 51.457° N, 7.012° E | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 593,085 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| V-2 launch area, Remscheid | 33 km SSE (157°) | 51.180° N, 7.200° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Burgsteinfurt | 74 km NNE (15°) | 52.100° N, 7.300° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Enschede, Nederlanden | 85 km N (354°) | 52.220° N, 6.890° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Euskirchen, Deutschland | 91 km S (189°) | 50.650° N, 6.800° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Zwolle-Hellendoorn-Enschede | 112 km NNW (340°) | 52.400° N, 6.450° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area at Hellendoorn/Eelerberg | 113 km NNW (340°) | 52.410° N, 6.430° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area near Hachenburg/Montaburg | 120 km SSE (152°) | 50.500° N, 7.800° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Beukenhorst mansion, Vught, Nederlanden | 121 km W (280°) | 51.624° N, 5.289° E | gcat-sites |
| Artillerie Schietkamp, t'Harde | 128 km NW (325°) | 52.395° N, 5.923° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch areas, Fraiture, Vielsalm, Ardennes | 160 km SW (214°) | 50.258° N, 5.752° E | gcat-sites |
| Unknown V2 WWII launch site, Europe | 177 km SSW (204°) | 50.000° N, 6.000° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch areas, Houffalize, Belgium | 179 km SSW (209°) | 50.040° N, 5.790° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Stavorem, Friesland | 195 km NW (326°) | 52.900° N, 5.400° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area near Den Haag-Wassenaar | 196 km WNW (294°) | 52.130° N, 4.380° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area at Hermeskeil | 201 km S (182°) | 49.650° N, 6.900° 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, 15,711 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 51.457° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 7,540 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 31.1° 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 Essen in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.