Somewhere above you right now, hundreds of satellites are silently crossing the sky. The ISS is racing past at 28,000 km/h. A Starlink train from last week's launch is still bright enough to see with the naked eye. A GPS satellite you rely on every day floats in medium Earth orbit. And until now, knowing exactly which direction to look — which patch of sky, which elevation angle — required an app, a website, and a lot of mental arithmetic.
AR Sky View on SatFleet Live changes that entirely. Open it on your phone, point it at the sky, and every satellite above your horizon appears as a labelled dot in real time — overlaid on your camera feed or plotted against a virtual star field. Tap any dot to instantly get its name, altitude, velocity, and position. This guide explains exactly how to use it, what to look for, and how to get the most out of every feature.
What Is AR Sky View?
AR Sky View is an augmented reality satellite finder built directly into SatFleet Live — no separate app download, no account, no cost. It runs entirely in your mobile browser and combines three data streams in real time: your phone's GPS position, its compass and gyroscope sensors, and a full live database of over 14,000 tracked satellite objects.
The result is a sky map that is physically anchored to your exact location and orientation. When you tilt your phone upward and rotate it north, you see the satellites that are currently north and above you. When you swing around to face south and lower the phone toward the horizon, the display updates instantly to show what is there. Every dot represents a real satellite in its real computed position.
How It Works: Compass + GPS + TLE Data
Understanding the three components that power AR Sky View helps you get better results — and diagnose issues when something looks off.
GPS: your position on Earth
The AR viewer asks for your location as soon as it opens. This is essential: whether a satellite appears at 45° elevation directly north of you or 12° elevation in the southeast depends entirely on your exact coordinates. The viewer uses GPS when available, falling back to a stored cached position or a sensible default. A confirmed GPS fix shows GPS in the status bar at the bottom; a cached or estimated position shows EST.
Compass and gyroscope: where your phone is pointing
Your phone's magnetometer (compass) tells the viewer which compass bearing you are facing — north, south, east, west, or any direction in between. The gyroscope and accelerometer measure how steeply you are tilting the phone: horizontal boca arriba for ground, vertical for the horizon, tilted back for the sky above. Together these two sensors define the exact "window" of the sky your phone is currently pointing at. The AR overlay then shows only the satellites within that window.
TLE data: satellite positions computed on the fly
Satellite positions are computed from Two-Line Element sets (TLEs) — compact orbital mechanics data published by NORAD and updated several times per day. The viewer fetches the latest TLE catalogue from SatFleet Live's API at startup, then uses a built-in SGP4 propagator (the same algorithm used by professional tracking software) to calculate each satellite's exact latitude, longitude, and altitude for the current moment. This calculation runs every 500 milliseconds, keeping the display current as satellites move and as you move your phone.
For every satellite, the viewer computes an azimuth (compass direction from you to the satellite, 0–360°) and an elevation (angle above your horizon, 0–90°). These are then projected onto your phone screen: azimuth maps to left/right based on your compass heading, elevation maps to up/down based on your phone tilt. The dot appears where the projection lands.
Getting Started: Step-by-Step Setup
AR Sky View is designed to work within 30 seconds of opening it. Here is the exact process:
- Open SatFleet Live on your phone's browser Navigate to satfleetlive.com in Safari (iOS) or Chrome (Android). The AR feature is designed for mobile — on a desktop it will work in compass mode but lacks the orientation sensors that make it useful.
- Tap the 🔭 AR Sky button on the live map This opens the AR Sky View page. A loading spinner appears while the satellite catalogue downloads from the server. On a typical mobile connection this takes 3–8 seconds.
- Allow location access when prompted The browser will ask for permission to access your GPS. Tap Allow. Without a location fix, satellite positions will default to a pre-stored coordinate and will not be accurate for your sky. The status bar at the bottom shows GPS once a real fix is obtained.
- Allow motion sensor access if prompted (iOS only) On iPhones running iOS 13 or later, Safari requires explicit permission to access the DeviceOrientation API — the sensor data used to read your compass heading and tilt. A permission dialog may appear; tap Allow. Without this, the AR overlay will not respond when you move the phone.
- Go outside and point your phone at the sky Hold the phone vertically in portrait orientation, face the rear camera toward the sky, and slowly rotate. The satellite dots update as you move. The status bar shows your live heading and tilt angle. You are live.
If the satellite dots do not respond when you move the phone, the motion sensor permission was likely denied or not requested. In Safari, go to Settings → Safari → Motion & Orientation Access and ensure it is enabled. Then reload the AR Sky page — the permission prompt will appear again.
Compass Mode vs Camera Mode
AR Sky View offers two display modes. Both show the same satellite data; the difference is what appears behind the dots.
| Feature | Compass Mode | Camera Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Background | Simulated dark sky canvas | Live rear camera feed |
| Best for | Planning, daytime use, low-permission environments | Night-time observation, pointing at visible passes |
| Camera permission required | No Default | Yes |
| Battery use | Lower | Higher (camera active) |
| Shows real stars | No (simulated sky) | Yes (real camera image) |
| Works indoors | Partially (compass degrades) | Not useful |
| Activate by | Default on load | Tap Camera button top right |
When to use Camera Mode
Camera mode is the most visually satisfying way to use AR Sky View at night. With a satellite pass in progress — say, the ISS or a Starlink train — switch to camera mode, point at the relevant part of the sky, and tap the dot that corresponds to the object you are watching. The satellite's data panel appears in the corner while you watch it cross the actual sky behind your phone's display. It is the closest thing to professional sky-tracking software that fits in your pocket.
When to use Compass Mode
Compass mode is ideal during daylight hours, when the camera shows nothing useful but the satellite positions are still perfectly valid — you can plan your observation for that evening, check which satellites will be overhead, and note what time each major object will peak. It is also the more battery-friendly option for extended sessions.
Filters: Choose What You See
With 14,000+ objects in the catalogue, an unfiltered display can become visually overwhelming — particularly in Camera Mode where density can make individual identification difficult. The Filters button at the bottom of the screen opens a panel with 11 distinct filter options:
This is the most useful filter for practical observation. It applies two checks simultaneously: the satellite must be above your horizon and in sunlight (not in Earth's shadow). It also excludes passes during daytime when you are not in darkness. The result is the exact set of satellites your naked eye could theoretically see at this moment — no guesswork, no reference tables needed.
Multiple category filters can be active at the same time — for example, GPS + Space Station + Weather to compare the orbital altitudes of very different mission types. Only the All and Only Visible options are mutually exclusive with the rest.
Reading the Screen: Status Bar, Crosshair & Popups
The status bar
The translucent bar at the bottom of the screen shows four live values:
- 🛰️ Visible — the number of satellites currently above your horizon matching the active filter. In "All" mode this can be 200+; in "Only Visible (night)" on a clear dark evening it is typically 10–40.
- 🧭 Heading — your current compass bearing in degrees (0 = North, 90 = East, 180 = South, 270 = West). This is what the AR viewer "thinks" you are facing.
- 📐 Tilt — the elevation angle your phone is pointing at. 0° = horizontal toward the horizon. 90° = straight up at the zenith. Negative values mean the phone is angled downward.
- 📍 Location — shows GPS (live fix), EST (estimated or cached), or OK (loaded from storage). A GPS fix gives the most accurate satellite positions.
The crosshair
The small crosshair at the centre of the screen marks the exact direction your phone is currently pointing. Any satellite dot that you bring into the crosshair is the object at precisely your current heading and tilt angle. This is useful for confirming that a dot you see in the real sky matches the one on screen.
Elevation rings and cardinal labels
Horizontal dashed lines across the canvas mark 0° (horizon), 30°, 60°, and 90° (zenith) elevation. The 0° line is shown in orange; higher elevations in white. Cardinal direction labels — N (red), E, S, W — float across the canvas as you rotate, giving you constant compass context.
Tapping a satellite: the info popup
Tap any satellite dot and a popup panel appears in the top-right corner showing:
- 📛 Name — the official NORAD catalogue name (e.g. "ISS (ZARYA)", "STARLINK-7123", "GPS BIIR-5")
- 🏔️ Altitude — current orbital altitude in kilometres above Earth's surface
- ⚡ Velocity — orbital speed in km/h
- ⬆️ Elevation — how many degrees above your horizon it currently is
- 🧭 Azimuth — the compass direction from you to the satellite right now
Once a satellite is selected, its predicted orbit track appears as a dashed line across the canvas — showing where it will be over the next 90 minutes of flight, updated dynamically as the satellite moves.
Calibration: Fixing a Misaligned Compass
The most common issue with any AR sky tool — not just SatFleet Live — is compass offset: the satellites appear to be shifted a few degrees (or more) from where they actually are. This is almost never a bug in the software. It is a property of phone magnetometers, which are sensitive to nearby magnetic interference and can drift over time.
How to calibrate in 10 seconds
Hold your phone firmly and move it in a smooth figure-8 pattern — the same movement you would make when drawing the number 8 in the air in front of you. Do this 3–4 times. The magnetometer internally recalibrates, and the AR overlay will noticeably snap into better alignment. The AR Sky page shows a calibration hint at the bottom of the screen if it detects compass data has not yet been received.
Metal furniture, cars, speakers, laptop computers, and even some phone cases with magnets can temporarily deflect the magnetometer reading. If calibration does not fix a persistent offset, move 3–5 metres away from any metal objects or electronics and try again. Outdoors in open space almost always gives the best compass accuracy.
Verifying accuracy: the ISS test
The easiest way to confirm the AR overlay is accurate is to wait for an ISS pass, open the Next Passes tool to get the exact azimuth at peak, then point your phone at that bearing and check whether the ISS dot is on the crosshair. If it is within a degree or two, your compass is well calibrated. If it is significantly off in the same direction consistently, a figure-8 calibration sequence should close the gap.
Best Use Cases for the AR Viewer
1. Identifying a bright object you just saw
You spot a bright moving light crossing the sky and wonder what it is. Open AR Sky View, switch to Camera Mode, point your phone at the object, and tap the nearest dot. The popup identifies it within seconds — name, altitude, type, and exact position. For a bright ISS pass this works reliably within the first 20 seconds of opening the viewer.
2. Watching a Starlink train pass overhead
Use the Next Passes tool to find a Starlink train, note the start direction, then open AR Sky View and apply the Starlink filter. As the train approaches, the dots appear at the predicted horizon point and march across your screen in sequence — each one matching a visible satellite in the actual sky when you are in Camera Mode. It is the most immersive way to experience a train pass.
3. Exploring satellite density in different directions
Slowly sweep your phone across the entire sky in All mode and watch how satellite density varies. Directions near the equatorial plane tend to have denser populations of LEO objects. Geostationary satellites cluster in a narrow arc above the equator at constant azimuths. The GPS constellation forms a distinctive geometric shell at 20,200 km altitude — their dots barely move relative to the ground over short periods.
4. Planning an observation session
During daylight hours, use Compass Mode to preview the sky for that evening. Check whether any bright satellites will be passing near particular stars or constellations you want to photograph alongside. Note the heading and elevation of the ISS peak so you know exactly where to look without any setup when darkness falls.