When to see the Starlink satellites flying over Greater Manchester tonight and this weekend

The Starlink satellites will be visible over Greater Manchester again this weekend.

Appearing as a string of bright lights travelling across the night sky, the fleet has been seen across the country all week.

Belonging to tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX company, they're designed to provide internet service to remote locations across the world.

The cluster of satellites look like moving stars as they fly across the sky in train-like straight line.

The view this weekend might not be as good as it was under the clear skies earlier this week, but with only a partly-cloudy forecast on Friday and Saturday night, you should still be able to catch a glimpse.

Here are the times you should be able to spot them:

April 24

9.10pm: Starlink-5,6 will be visible for six minutes, travelling from west to east (bright)

April 25

4.14am: Starlink-3 will be visible for five minutes, travelling from west to east (bright)

9.45pm: Starlink-5,6 will be visible for six minutes, travelling from west to east (bright)

April 26

4.49am: Starlink-3 will be visible for six minutes, travelling from west to southeast

These are the approximate optimum times for the north west; timings in other parts of the UK may vary by a few minutes.

If you miss them this weekend, you'll have plenty more chances to see them.

The satellites will regularly be visible from the UK for the foreseeable future, and more frequently as more and more of them are sent up.

SpaceX has already launched 422 of its satellites into low orbit around the Earth.

The company has been granted permission to fly 12,000 satellites as part of the project - a number that could eventually be increased to 30,000.

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket with a payload of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network (AP)

The project has faced backlash from astronomers who fear the satellites could interfere with ground-based observations of the universe.

You can enter your location here to find the days and times they'll be most visible in your area.

You can also track the satellites using the dedicated Starlink app, which automatically calculates when the SpaceX satellites are expected to be visible above your current location.