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Observing the Earth

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On World Environment Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us an amazing view from space of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, hosting this year’s celebration.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image features the Batagaika Crater in Siberia. This is the biggest permafrost crater in the world, caused by melting permafrost and also known as a ‘mega-slump’.

The Meteosat Third Generation-Imager2 satellite sets sail from France to French Guiana

Europe is in the middle of a heatwave – Copernicus Sentinel-3 captured this image on Tuesday 26 May

The sandy and rocky terrain of the Sahara desert in central Algeria is featured in these images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

This image, captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2, gives us a glimpse of Ecuador’s capital, Quito, sprawling for 40 km along this high-altitude valley in the Andes.

Part of the rugged and deeply indented coast of northeastern Greenland is featured in this radar image captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1.

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 21 April 2026, this image shows a double bloom in the Netherlands: an array of vibrant colours in the tulip fields as well as the blue-greenish swirls of phytoplankton in the North Sea.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image highlights a distinctive cloud formation north of the Canary Islands of Tenerife and La Gomera.

This image from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the coast of Gabon in striking colours.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures an active lava flow on the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island.

In an unusual perspective for an Earth-observing satellite, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures this image of Earth’s only natural satellite.

The image from Copernicus Sentinel-3 shows a Saharan dust storm over the Atlantic Ocean, with the Canary Islands visible off the coast of Morocco.

Western Australia’s Kimberley region is featured in this double view from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

Ahead of the World Day for Glaciers, Copernicus Sentinel-2 captures the diverse landscape of western Norway with its jagged fjords, fertile valleys, mountain plateaus and Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in continental Europe.

This image from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission shows us the maritime traffic passing through the Øresund Strait in 2025.

These two views from Copernicus Sentinel-2 reveal the landscape transformation in the area around Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the icy landscape of Terra Nova Bay in East Antarctica.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over south-central Morocco, near the city of Ouarzazate.

For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission sends love from space, capturing the heart-shaped oasis of Faiyum, just south of Cairo, Egypt.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially opening today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us a striking view of northern Italy, highlighting several key Olympic venues.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over part of the coastal area of Rudong County on China’s eastern seaboard.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us at the Brazilian-Bolivian border over part of the Pantanal region, a unique ecosystem, home to an impressive variety of plants and wildlife.

This image, captured by Copernicus Sentinel-3 on 18 January 2026, shows clouds of smoke from wildfires on the coast of Chile.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image over the South Atlantic Ocean features a close-up view of the A23a iceberg, once the world’s largest. The unusually cloud-free image shows the first signs that the iceberg will soon disintegrate completely.

This image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 6 January 2026, shows Amsterdam in the Netherlands blanketed in snow.

This week Earth from Space features a wintery image: a red and white sphere that, if seen from a distance, resembles a festive decoration.

Following International Mountain Day, which creates awareness of the importance of mountain environments around the world, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Pariacaca Mountain Range in Peru.

This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image features part of the Badain Jaran Desert in northwestern China.

Puttalam district in North Western Sri Lanka is currently facing severe flooding, landslides and rockfalls, caused by heavy monsoon rains across the region. Copernicus Sentinel-2 captured an image over the region yesterday, 30 November 2025, as well an image one month ago, showing the extent of flooding.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures a spectacular geological wonder in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania: the Richat Structure.

The Hayli Gubbi volcano in northeast Ethiopia, dormant for up to 12 000 years, erupted on 23 November 2025, sending a large plume of ash and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Copernicus Sentinel-5P captured the spread of the sulphur dioxide.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over one of Earth’s most extreme environments: the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia.

This very high-resolution image captures the beautiful medieval core of the Czech capital, Prague.

Ahead of the 30th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP30) taking place in Belém, Brazil, from 10-21 November, this IRIDE image shows the Branco River and its surrounding forests in the Brazilian state of Roraima.

To celebrate Halloween, we bring you these spooky sights of Lake Carnegie in Australia, captured from space by Copernicus Sentinel-2.

This image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission show Hurricane Melissa as it barrelled through the Caribbean Sea

Sentinel-1D encapsulated inside Ariane 6 fairing

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures the meandering course of the Likouala-aux-Herbes river in the Republic of the Congo.

The changing face of the Chilean glaciers in the Laguna San Rafael National Park is featured in these satellite images from 1987 and 2024.

This wide view of Copernicus Sentinel-3 shows Cyclone Errol heading towards the coast of Western Australia.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures an active lava lake on the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Part of the icy landscape of the Northeast Greenland National Park, the largest national park in the world, is pictured in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures a cloud-free view over the island of Komodo in southeastern Indonesia.

First view of aerosols from MetOp Second Generation’s 3MI instrument

Part of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia is featured in this image, captured by the Φsat-2 mission in June 2025.

This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image shows high concentrations of chlorophyll in yellow-green along the coastline of South Australia, near Adelaide. Chlorophyll-a is a key indicator of the presence of algae in the ocean.

The development of ESA’s Earth Explorer FLEX mission has recently passed a significant milestone: the mission’s all-important instrument has been joined to its satellite platform.

MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5 ready for liftoff

Copernicus Sentinel-2 captured wildfires burning in northern Portugal on Wednesday, 30 July.

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