The local space context of Marseille 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 | 43.297° N, 5.381° E | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 877,215 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centre d'Essais de la Mediterranee, Ile du Levant, Var, France | 92 km ESE (107°) | 43.050° N, 6.470° E | gcat-sites |
| Centre d'Essais et de Recherches d'Engins Speciaux, Ile du Levant, Var | 92 km ESE (107°) | 43.050° N, 6.470° E | gcat-sites |
| Le Cardonnet, Montpelier, France | 144 km WNW (283°) | 43.580° N, 3.640° E | gcat-sites |
| Poligono Sperimentale e di Addestramento Interforze del Salto di Quirra | 532 km SE (139°) | 39.600° N, 9.430° E | gcat-sites |
| Salto di Quirra (San Lorenzo), Perdas de Fogu, Sardegna | 532 km SE (139°) | 39.600° N, 9.430° E | gcat-sites |
| Base aerienne 120, Cazaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 538 km WNW (287°) | 44.540° N, 1.113° W | gcat-sites |
| Centre d'Essais de Lancement de Missiles (former CEL) | 545 km WNW (285°) | 44.362° N, 1.250° W | gcat-sites |
| Centre d'Essais de Landes, Biscarosse, Landes, France | 547 km WNW (286°) | 44.450° N, 1.250° W | gcat-sites |
| DGA Essais de missiles, Site Landes, Biscarosse, Landes, France | 547 km WNW (286°) | 44.450° N, 1.250° W | gcat-sites |
| Camp de Suippes, Marne, France | 654 km N (355°) | 49.150° N, 4.530° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area, Merzig, N of Saar | 691 km N (7°) | 49.450° N, 6.600° E | gcat-sites |
| Vernon, Eure, France | 709 km NNW (336°) | 49.080° N, 1.480° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch area at Hermeskeil | 716 km N (9°) | 49.650° N, 6.900° E | gcat-sites |
| Unknown V2 WWII launch site, Europe | 747 km N (3°) | 50.000° N, 6.000° E | gcat-sites |
| V-2 launch areas, Houffalize, Belgium | 750 km N (2°) | 50.040° N, 5.790° E | gcat-sites |
| … and 12 more within 1000 km | |||
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSN Madrid | 858 km WSW (251°) | 40.431° N, 4.248° W | signals |
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, 16,271 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 43.297° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 6,980 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 40.1° 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 Marseille in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.