The email alert Spot the Station users lost — rebuilt, and free
NASA retired Spot the Station’s email and text alerts in June 2025, after 13 years and 4,600 locations. We kept the idea alive. Free ISS pass alerts by email, for your exact location: when to step outside, which way to look, how high it climbs, and how long you have.
LookToSpace is an independent service, not affiliated with NASA or Spot the Station. Pass times are computed daily from publicly published orbital elements.
Three steps: create a free account, save your location, switch on “ISS & satellite passes” in the Alerts tab. No card, no trial timer; the free plan is free forever.
What happened to Spot the Station
Since 2012, NASA’s Spot the Station emailed and texted millions of people a few hours before the International Space Station flew over their registered location. On June 12, 2025, NASA discontinued the alert service and the website’s sighting tables, directing everyone to its mobile app instead. The app is good, but if what you actually wanted was an email that tells you when to step outside, nothing official replaced it. That’s the gap this page fills.
What you get, free
- An evening email before visible ISS passes over your saved location: one email per evening at most, and only on nights with a pass worth stepping outside for.
- The step-outside time in your local time, the direction it appears from, the peak height in degrees, and how many minutes it stays in view, the same essentials Spot the Station sent.
- One thing NASA’s emails never had: the exact minute the station slips into Earth’s shadow and blinks out mid-sky, so you know it’s not clouds.
Pro ($19.99/yr) adds what Spot the Station never offered: SMS text alerts, push notifications, Starlink-train pass alerts, precision alert controls (lead times and only-wake-me-if-it’s-good visibility thresholds), and up to five saved locations. If you only want the emails NASA used to send, you never have to pay us anything.
Spot the Station vs. the app vs. LookToSpace
| Spot the Station (retired June 2025) |
NASA’s app (the official replacement) |
LookToSpace | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email alerts | Yes, for 13 years | No | Yes, free for one saved location |
| SMS / text alerts | Yes | No | Yes, on Pro |
| Push notifications | No | Yes, in the app | Yes, on Pro |
| Sighting tables on the web | Yes, retired with the emails | No, app only | Yes: free ISS pass tables for 94 US cities, no install |
| Works without installing anything | Yes | No | Yes, email + web |
| Shadow fade-out moment | No | No | Yes, the exact minute it vanishes mid-sky |
| Price | Free | Free | Email alerts free; Pro $19.99/yr for SMS, push, Starlink trains, 5 locations |
Check tonight before you sign up
Want to see what the alert would say first? The ISS pass tables cover 94 US cities with tonight’s exact times, updated daily: the web sighting tables NASA retired, kept alive too.
Get a free email when the ISS will pass over your location
Enter your ZIP or city and we’ll email you the pass time: when to step outside and where to look. Only on evenings with a visible pass. Free, no account needed.
Check your inbox for one confirmation email from LookToSpace: ISS pass emails start after you confirm. One-click unsubscribe.
Free nightly pass-time email for one saved location ✓ what you’re signing up for now
Pro Starlink-train passes · push + SMS alerts · 5 saved locations · $19.99/yr
Free · no account needed
Spot the Station replacement FAQ
Did Spot the Station shut down?
Partly. On June 12, 2025 NASA retired Spot the Station’s email and text alert service and the website’s sighting tables after 13 years, and now points people at its mobile app instead. The app still works, but if you relied on the emails or texts, NASA no longer offers them.
Is there a replacement for Spot the Station email alerts?
Yes, that’s this. LookToSpace sends free ISS pass alerts by email for your exact location: an evening heads-up with the step-outside time, the direction the station appears from, how high it climbs, how long it stays visible, and the moment it vanishes into Earth’s shadow. One saved location is free forever, no card required.
How do I get ISS pass notifications by email?
Three steps: create a free LookToSpace account, save your location, and switch on “ISS & satellite passes” in the Alerts tab. From then on you get one email at most per evening, and only on evenings with a pass genuinely worth stepping outside for.
Is LookToSpace affiliated with NASA or Spot the Station?
No. LookToSpace is an independent service with no connection to NASA. We compute ISS pass times ourselves from publicly published orbital elements (the same data every satellite tracker uses), and we built these alerts because NASA’s retired email service left no email replacement anywhere.
What did Spot the Station’s alerts include, and do yours match?
Spot the Station emailed sighting opportunities for your registered location: time, direction, maximum height, and duration. Our free emails carry the same essentials (local step-outside time, rise direction, peak height in degrees, and visible duration), plus one detail NASA never sent: the exact moment the station slips into Earth’s shadow and blinks out mid-sky.