The local space context of Portland 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 | 45.523° N, 122.676° W | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| population | 652,503 inhabitants | GeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0 |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| POMFPAC, Polaris Missile Facility, Pacific | 247 km N (359°) | 47.746° N, 122.728° W | gcat-sites |
| Black Rock Desert, Nevada | 595 km SSE (150°) | 40.830° N, 119.140° W | gcat-sites |
| Beale AFB, California | 717 km S (171°) | 39.140° N, 121.440° W | gcat-sites |
| Smith Ranch Lake drop zone, Nevada | 807 km SE (144°) | 39.500° N, 117.170° W | gcat-sites |
| San Francisco International Airport (SFO) | 879 km S (178°) | 37.620° N, 122.370° W | gcat-sites |
| Mud Lake, Nevada | 937 km SSE (150°) | 38.100° N, 117.300° W | gcat-sites |
| Railroad Valley Lake drop zone, Nevada | 973 km SE (144°) | 38.220° N, 116.180° W | gcat-sites |
| Korolev Expedition 1, 1970-71 (SU000303) | 977 km SW (234°) | 40.000° N, 132.000° W | gcat-sites |
| Tonopah Test Range, Nevada | 994 km SSE (148°) | 37.750° N, 116.750° W | gcat-sites |
| site | distance · bearing | position | source layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| SHOAL | 786 km SSE (152°) | 39.200° N, 118.380° W | nuclear-tests |
| FAULTLESS | 932 km SE (143°) | 38.650° N, 116.200° W | nuclear-tests |
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, 16,125 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 45.523° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 7,126 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 37.6° 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 Portland in Stargazing — it computes which satellites are visible now, from this
registry, in your browser.