About the project
A closer look
from above.
01 / Perspective
Astronauts describe a shift when they see Earth from space for the first time: a sudden awareness of the planet as a single, fragile system. They call it the Overview Effect.
OrbitalStory brings that perspective to everyone through satellite imagery. We create visual stories that reveal how landscapes, coastlines and cities transform over time.
02 / Sources
Stories use imagery from USGS Landsat and ESA Copernicus Sentinel-2, processed through the OrbitalStory engine and Google Earth Engine. Source credits and known limits appear on each story.
Our current collection contains five places. Where a reliable temporal pair is unavailable, we show a single image.
03 / Explore
Browse the stories here, then visit Orbital Earth to see satellite activity above the same planet.