A stargazer was delighted as he spotted the International Space Station (ISS) in the sky at the same time a Starlink satellite train whizzed past.

Footage captured on July 16 shows the filmer pointing out the ISS shining brightly in the night sky. He then pans around to see a train of Starlink satellites.

The filmer told Newsflare: "It is not rare to see ISS, and Starlink satellite trains have been spotted regularly, too. But it is extremely rare to be able to see both at the same moment. And of course, when this happens you also need cloudless skies to see it. Well, here I had a certain amount of clouds in the Swiss Alps above Conthey, Valais canton. But ISS was seen very brightly between clouds, with an aeroplane at the same time.

"And then the Starlink G5-15 satellite train appeared in the south.
Those Starlink satellites had just been deployed the same day, earlier in the morning, after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Florida.

Both the ISS and Starlink satellites orbit Earth in roughly 1.5 hours.

"You can see them when the sky is dark enough but they are still sunlit. You can actually see the Starlink satellite train disappear at the end of the video when they plunge into Earth's shadow.

"This was a little more than one hour after sunset so the sky was not pitch black yet, just in dark twilight."

very rare simultaneous sighting of ISS and Starlink train.

Sunday evening July 16, 2023 around 10:25 PM the ISS International Space Station was flying brightly in the northern skies as seen from SW Switzerland. At the very same time, the newest Starlink satellite train G5-15 was crossing the southern skies. It is not rare to see ISS , and Starlink satellite trains have been spotted regularly, too. But it is extremely rare to be able to see both at the same moment. And of course when this happens you also need cloudless skies to see it. Well here I had a certain amount of clouds in the swiss Alps above Conthey, Valais canton. But ISS was seen very brightly between clouds , with an airplane at the same time. And then the Starlink G5-15 satellite train appeared in the south.
Those Starlink satellites had just been deployed the same day, earlier in the morning, after launch of a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Florida. Both the ISS and Starlink satellites orbit Earth in roughly 1.5 hours. You can see them when the sky is dark enough but they are still sunlit. You can actually see the Starlink satellite train disappear at the end of the video when they plunge into Earth's shadow. This was a little more than one hour after sunset so the sky was not pitchblack yet, just in dark twilight.
camera Sony a7s2
lens Mitakon speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 II
location filmed : from the road below Cabane d'Ayroz, Chaux d' Aïre, Daillon, Switzerland ( in the avalanche corridor )