San Jose (US)

The local space context of San Jose 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.

position37.339° N, 121.895° WGeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0
population997,368 inhabitantsGeoNames (geonames.org) — CC BY 4.0

On the ground within 1000 km

Launch sites — 34 within 1000 km

sitedistance · bearingpositionsource layer
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)52 km NW (307°)37.620° N, 122.370° Wgcat-sites
Beale AFB, California204 km N (11°)39.140° N, 121.440° Wgcat-sites
Vandenberg AFB, California310 km SSE (158°)34.750° N, 120.620° Wgcat-sites
Vandenberg Space Force Base, California310 km SSE (158°)34.750° N, 120.620° Wgcat-sites
South Vandenberg AFB, California323 km SSE (159°)34.630° N, 120.610° Wgcat-sites
South Base, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California323 km SSE (159°)34.630° N, 120.610° Wgcat-sites
Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello, California324 km SSE (159°)34.620° N, 120.600° Wgcat-sites
Mud Lake, Nevada413 km ENE (77°)38.100° N, 117.300° Wgcat-sites
Mojave Spaceport, California423 km SE (126°)35.049° N, 118.136° Wgcat-sites
Friends of Amateur Rocketry, Randsburg, California428 km ESE (120°)35.348° N, 117.809° Wgcat-sites
Naval Missile and Astronautics Center, Point Mugu, California437 km SE (144°)34.120° N, 119.120° Wgcat-sites
Black Rock Desert, Nevada455 km NNE (31°)40.830° N, 119.140° Wgcat-sites
Tonopah Test Range, Nevada456 km E (83°)37.750° N, 116.750° Wgcat-sites
Edwards AFB, California457 km SE (125°)34.900° N, 117.800° Wgcat-sites
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California466 km ESE (113°)35.580° N, 117.170° Wgcat-sites
… and 19 more within 1000 km

Ground stations and transmitting sites — 2 within 1000 km

sitedistance · bearingpositionsource layer
DSN Goldstone496 km ESE (114°)35.427° N, 116.890° Wsignals
Nevada Test Site517 km E (91°)37.120° N, 116.060° Wnuclear-tests

Announced launches (their pads) — 25 within 1000 km

sitedistance · bearingpositionsource layer
Firefly Alpha Block 2 | ConnectedCosmos Launch 1309 km SSE (158°)34.756° N, 120.622° Wlaunchlibrary
Firefly Alpha Block 2 | QuickSounder309 km SSE (158°)34.756° N, 120.622° Wlaunchlibrary
Firefly Alpha Block 2 | ConnectedCosmos Launch 2309 km SSE (158°)34.756° N, 120.622° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer E322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-39322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-51322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 2 Transport Layer A322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer A322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer C322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Tracking Layer E322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer D322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer F322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 2 Transport Layer E322 km SSE (159°)34.632° N, 120.611° Wlaunchlibrary
… and 10 more within 1000 km

Nuclear detonations — 940 within 1000 km

sitedistance · bearingpositionsource layer
SHOAL370 km NE (55°)39.200° N, 118.380° Wnuclear-tests
PAJARA473 km E (92°)37.060° N, 116.570° Wnuclear-tests
PALANQUIN474 km E (89°)37.260° N, 116.540° Wnuclear-tests
STILTON475 km E (88°)37.330° N, 116.520° Wnuclear-tests
DELAMAR476 km E (90°)37.248° N, 116.509° Wnuclear-tests
TAFI477 km E (89°)37.300° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
KASH477 km E (89°)37.300° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
DARWIN477 km E (89°)37.265° N, 116.499° Wnuclear-tests
KNICKERBOCKER478 km E (90°)37.210° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
BUTEO478 km E (90°)37.200° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
BENHAM478 km E (90°)37.200° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
MOLBO478 km E (90°)37.200° N, 116.500° Wnuclear-tests
TENABOO478 km E (90°)37.248° N, 116.494° Wnuclear-tests
HANDLEY478 km E (89°)37.300° N, 116.490° Wnuclear-tests
HORNITOS478 km E (89°)37.263° N, 116.491° Wnuclear-tests
… and 925 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.

What can pass overhead

Of the 23,251 artificial objects the registry places in Earth orbit on 2026-10-18, 20,020 fly orbits whose ground track reaches 37.339° N, so they can pass directly overhead; the other 3,231 never reach this latitude.

space stationinclinationcan pass overhead
Bai Xiang85.0°yes
International Space Station (+3 docked records)51.6°yes
Kosmos-38255.9°yes
Tianhe41.5°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 from here

The geostationary belt arcs across the southern sky and stands 46.7° 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.

What this page does not know