The local space context of Karbala 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 | 32.616° N, 44.025° E | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 1,218,732 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile launchers in Iraq | 43 km N (357°) | 33.000° N, 44.000° E | gcat-sites |
| Kilometer 160, Ar Ramadi, Al Ambar, Iraq | 123 km NW (316°) | 33.400° N, 43.100° E | gcat-sites |
| Al-Anbar base, Al-Anbar province, Iraq | 172 km WSW (251°) | 32.100° N, 42.300° E | gcat-sites |
| Al Nikheb (Al Nuqaub) | 178 km WSW (249°) | 32.030° N, 42.260° E | gcat-sites |
| Mobile launcher, S of An Najaf | 180 km S (178°) | 31.000° N, 44.100° E | gcat-sites |
| Jebel Himreen, Iraq | 194 km NE (37°) | 34.000° N, 45.300° E | gcat-sites |
| Mobile launchers in Iraq, near Al Amarah | 303 km ESE (107°) | 31.800° N, 47.100° E | gcat-sites |
| Al 'Amarah (Al-Fakkah) missile launch site | 307 km ESE (106°) | 31.830° N, 47.150° E | gcat-sites |
| Kirkuk region, Iraq | 319 km N (6°) | 35.470° N, 44.400° E | gcat-sites |
| Mobile launchers in Iraq, western launch area | 320 km WNW (300°) | 34.000° N, 41.000° E | gcat-sites |
| Bakhtaran/Kermanshah Air Base, Iran | 355 km NE (56°) | 34.357° N, 47.236° E | gcat-sites |
| Saddam Air Base | 359 km NNW (347°) | 35.760° N, 43.120° E | gcat-sites |
| H3 (al-Wallid) Airbase, Al Anbar | 402 km W (276°) | 32.930° N, 39.740° E | gcat-sites |
| Missile base, Kurdistan province, Iran | 418 km NNE (25°) | 36.000° N, 46.000° E | gcat-sites |
| Mobile launchers in Basra region | 428 km ESE (122°) | 30.500° N, 47.800° E | gcat-sites |
| … and 25 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, 20,214 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 32.616° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 3,037 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° | yes |
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 52.0° 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 Karbala in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.