The local space context of Niigata 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 | 37.923° N, 139.041° E | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 797,591 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sendai, Japan | 167 km ENE (76°) | 38.270° N, 140.900° E | gcat-sites |
| Akita Rocket Range (ATC) | 203 km NNE (25°) | 39.571° N, 140.057° E | gcat-sites |
| Ryori, Sanrikucho, Japan | 272 km ENE (62°) | 39.030° N, 141.830° E | gcat-sites |
| Obuchi (Obachi?), Aomori, Honshu, Nippon | 386 km NE (36°) | 40.700° N, 141.730° E | gcat-sites |
| Niijima, Nippon | 400 km S (177°) | 34.330° N, 139.270° E | gcat-sites |
| Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, South Australia | 451 km SW (224°) | 34.940° N, 135.630° E | gcat-sites |
| Spaceport Kii, Kanagawa | 564 km SSW (211°) | 33.544° N, 135.889° E | gcat-sites |
| Interstellar Technologies Test Site, Taiki, Hokkaido | 633 km NE (35°) | 42.506° N, 143.457° E | gcat-sites |
| Novosysoyevka missile base | 848 km NNW (328°) | 44.240° N, 133.360° E | gcat-sites |
| Tonghae SLG, Musudan-ri, Hwadae-gun, Hamgyong Pukdo, Choson | 868 km WNW (295°) | 40.850° N, 129.667° E | gcat-sites |
| Gangneung Airbase, South Korea | 885 km W (272°) | 37.754° N, 128.966° E | gcat-sites |
| Goseong, South Korea | 930 km W (277°) | 38.523° N, 128.418° E | gcat-sites |
| Shinpo Shipyard, S Hamgyong Prov (Hamgyong-namdo), North Korea | 969 km WNW (287°) | 40.019° N, 128.158° E | gcat-sites |
| R-11 launch point in 1958 (Pacific, but location unknown) | 975 km ENE (73°) | 40.000° N, 150.000° E | gcat-sites |
| Tongchon, Gangwon Province (Kangwon-do) | 978 km W (280°) | 38.930° N, 127.880° E | gcat-sites |
| … and 1 more within 1000 km | |||
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punggye-ri | 931 km WNW (297°) | 41.280° N, 129.080° E | nuclear-tests |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiroshima (Little Boy) | 709 km WSW (238°) | 34.395° N, 132.455° E | nukes |
| DPRK 2006 | 930 km WNW (297°) | 41.280° N, 129.090° E | nukes |
| DPRK 2017 | 932 km WNW (297°) | 41.300° N, 129.080° E | nukes |
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, 20,012 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 37.923° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 3,239 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 46.1° 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 Niigata in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.