SpaceX Roadster is not a natural celestial object, but rather a man-made object launched by SpaceX in February 2018 as part of the Falcon Heavy test flight. It is a red sports car owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and was launched as a demonstration of the Falcon Heavy's capabilities. The Roadster is not in a stable orbit around the Sun, but is instead on a heliocentric orbit that will take it to the asteroid belt and then back to the inner Solar System in the future. The Roadster also carries a mannequin named Starman, dressed in a spacesuit, in the driver's seat. The name "Roadster" refers to the type of car that is used as the payload for the Falcon Heavy, while "SpaceX" is the name of the private space exploration company founded by Elon Musk in 2002.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of SpaceX Roadster in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
SpaceX Roadster
SpaceX Roadster is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of SpaceX Roadster in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of SpaceX Roadster against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of SpaceX Roadster from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of SpaceX Roadster from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of SpaceX Roadster from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of SpaceX Roadster from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between February 8, 2018 and December 31, 2089, the closest approach of SpaceX Roadster to Earth happened on Thursday 8 February 2018 at a distance of 0.002219 Astronomical Units, or 331,948 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of SpaceX Roadster, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Orbit Visualization
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of SpaceX Roadster relative to the other major objects in the Solar System.
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of SpaceX Roadster computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10 2025 | 05h 30m 16s | +23° 51’ 52” | 28.15 | Taurus |
| Jul 11 2025 | 05h 34m 19s | +23° 54’ 21” | 28.15 | Taurus |
| Jul 12 2025 | 05h 38m 22s | +23° 56’ 27” | 28.14 | Taurus |
| Jul 13 2025 | 05h 42m 26s | +23° 58’ 10” | 28.13 | Taurus |
| Jul 14 2025 | 05h 46m 32s | +23° 59’ 28” | 28.12 | Taurus |
| Jul 15 2025 | 05h 50m 38s | +24° 00’ 23” | 28.11 | Taurus |
| Jul 16 2025 | 05h 54m 45s | +24° 00’ 52” | 28.10 | Taurus |
| Jul 17 2025 | 05h 58m 53s | +24° 00’ 57” | 28.09 | Taurus |
| Jul 18 2025 | 06h 03m 01s | +24° 00’ 37” | 28.08 | Gemini |
| Jul 19 2025 | 06h 07m 11s | +23° 59’ 53” | 28.07 | Gemini |
| Jul 20 2025 | 06h 11m 21s | +23° 58’ 41” | 28.06 | Gemini |
| Jul 21 2025 | 06h 15m 32s | +23° 57’ 06” | 28.06 | Gemini |
| Jul 22 2025 | 06h 19m 43s | +23° 55’ 04” | 28.05 | Gemini |
| Jul 23 2025 | 06h 23m 55s | +23° 52’ 35” | 28.04 | Gemini |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- SpaceX Roadster: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is SpaceX Roadster?: Key information on where to find SpaceX Roadster in the sky.
- Distance of SpaceX Roadster from Earth: Find out how far SpaceX Roadster is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is SpaceX Roadster?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of SpaceX Roadster from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of SpaceX Roadster's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of SpaceX Roadster's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days SpaceX Roadster's computed ephemeris.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of SpaceX Roadster with respect to the major Solar System objects.