Cameras are officially rolling! Or, in this case, streaming.
SpaceTV-1, a set of Ultra High Definition 4k cameras from space streaming company Sen, was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) last year, and is now broadcasting live views of Earth and space for all the world to see.
The London-based company is pursuing a mission to provide anyone and everyone with easy access to an experience usually reserved for astronauts — the overview effect. A phenomenon coined for the awe of seeing our planet from space and the effect it has on a person's perception of humanity, Apollo 14's lunar module pilot NASA astronaut Ed Mitchell described the overview effect as, "an instant global consciousness," accompanied with "an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it," and Sen wants that for everybody.
The SpaceTV-1 camera suite was delivered to the ISS in March, 2024, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-30 cargo mission last year. SpaceTV-1 was attached to the Bartolomeo platform on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus module. The package includes three cameras, providing three unique views of space around the ISS and Earth below.
A wide angle lens captures the long curve of Earth's horizon, with the occasional piece of the space station moving in and out of frame. A tighter view focuses directly on Earth, showing a stretch about 150 miles x 110 miles (240 kilometers x 180 kilometers). The third camera looks at the space station's forward docking port, connected the the Harmony module.
Sen began testing the livestream of the SpaceTV-1 cameras last year, capturing images of Hurricane Milton last October and dozens of video over locations spanning the entire globe. Now that the platform is up and running, the stream is nearly continuously available (sometimes there are dead-spots in the station's communications that cause a loss of signal).
"We’re excited to share these amazing 4K live views of Earth. This mission really is for all humanity and we hope our livestream will be a valuable application that empowers everyone with real-time information, and that it will inspire people,” Sen Founder and CEO Charles Black said in a company statement.
Sen has a mobile app, and provides its streams free at Sen.com and the company's YouTube channel.
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