how long does it take the iss to orbit earth

The International Space Station orbits Earth roughly once every 90 to 93 minutes , so it circles the planet about 15–16 times per day.

Quick Scoop

• Typical time for one full orbit: about 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes is the commonly quoted figure).

• Because the orbit time is so short, astronauts see around 15–16 sunrises and sunsets every Earth day.

• The exact time varies a bit (up to about 93 minutes) because the ISS’s altitude changes slightly and needs occasional reboosts to counter atmospheric drag.

Why it’s about 90 minutes

• The ISS flies at roughly 400 km above Earth’s surface, where gravity is still strong but low enough that atmospheric drag is manageable.

• At that height it must travel at about 28,000 km/h to stay in orbit, and at this speed it naturally completes one lap in about 90–93 minutes.

Mini “forum” style note

“An actual orbit takes about 90 minutes.” — a common explanation repeated in space discussion threads when people see fast ISS orbit animations online.

So if you look up and spot the ISS passing overhead, remember: in about an hour and a half, it has already gone all the way around the planet and is on its next lap.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.