Starman FAQ

Right now Starman is about 98.7 million km from Earth and 224.1 million km from the Sun, travelling at about 81,700 km/h in its own orbit around the Sun.

The live 3D tracker shows its exact position, updated every second.

Yes. The Roadster and Starman have been orbiting the Sun since February 2018 and will stay in space for millions of years; nothing is slowing them down or pulling them back to Earth.

Not anytime soon. A 2018 study by Rein, Tamayo and Vokrouhlický simulated its orbit for three million years and found about a 6% chance of eventually hitting Earth and 2.5% of hitting Venus, with most of its future spent safely circling the Sun.

Its next close pass is on January 11, 2047, at about 4.8 million km, still more than ten times farther away than the Moon.

Right now it is moving at about 81,700 km/h around the Sun. Its speed changes along its oval orbit, from about 71,700 km/h at its farthest point to about 121,000 km/h at its closest point to the Sun.

Today Starman is about 98.7 million km from Earth. Over the years that distance swings between a few million km during close passes and about 396.2 million km when it is on the far side of the Sun.

See the distance from Earth page for a 24-month chart.

About 5.69 times so far. One lap takes about 557 days, roughly a year and a half.

No, not anymore. It was around magnitude 15.5 two days after launch, but by mid-June 2018 it had faded beyond magnitude 26, far too faint for amateur telescopes, and no telescope has tracked it since March 2018.

No. The sound system was set to loop David Bowie’s Space Oddity, but Elon Musk estimated the battery would last only a little over 12 hours, so the car has been silent since February 2018.

On January 11, 2047, when it will pass about 4.8 million km from Earth, according to NASA/JPL predictions.

All past and future passes are on the timeline.

Yes, as far as anyone knows. Observers confirmed shortly after launch that the car stayed attached to the Falcon Heavy second stage, and JPL tracks them as one object.

Probably poor. Chemist William Carroll predicted that sunlight, cosmic radiation and micrometeoroids would destroy the tyres, paint, plastics and leather within about a year, leaving mostly the aluminium frame and metal parts.