Tag: satellite imagery

Satellites Uncover Ancient Civilization in Sahara

The ancient Garamantes civilization, a sophisticated society that thrived in the Sahara Desert, was revealed through groundbreaking satellite imagery studies in southwestern Libya’s Fezzan region. This remarkable discovery, made by researchers from the University of Leicester, has unveiled over 100 fortified farms, villages, and towns with castle-like structures, reshaping our understanding of this once-mischaracterized culture. Dating primarily between AD 1 and 500, these settlements demonstrate the Garamantes’ advanced urban planning, irrigation systems, and role in trans-Saharan trade. This article explores the discovery, the civilization’s achievements, and the methods that brought this hidden history to light.

Discovery Through Satellite Imagery

In 2011, a team led by Professor David Mattingly from the University of Leicester utilized high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial photographs to identify over 100 fortified settlements in the Fezzan region. The project, funded by the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, the Society for Libyan Studies, and the GeoEye Foundation, capitalized on technological advancements to uncover sites previously obscured by the desert’s harsh terrain. The fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011 lifted restrictions on archaeological exploration of Libya’s pre-Islamic heritage, enabling this research.

The team analyzed images from commercial satellites and oil industry surveys, supplemented by aerial photographs from the 1950s and 1960s. These tools revealed a dense network of settlements, including the Garamantes’ capital, Garama (modern-day Jarma), and other sites like Al Awaynat (oasis). Fieldwork confirmed the findings, with Garamantian pottery and mudbrick structures providing tangible evidence of the civilization’s existence. The settlements, some featuring walls up to four meters high, included farms, villages, towns, cairn cemeteries, wells, and agricultural fields, indicating a highly organized society.

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SpaceX Starlink satellite photobombs orbital view of secret Chinese air base

One of SpaceX’s broadband-beaming Starlink satellites has been captured overflying a top-secret airbase in China that was photographed by a private American Earth-observation satellite.

The unexpected satellite alignment above Dingxin Airbase in the Gobi Desert of western China took place on Aug. 21 and created a range of unusual effects in the high-resolution image. Dingxin Airbase, which provided a backdrop for the orbital encounter, is one of the most secretive military locations in China, known for conducting complex fighter jet drills and bomber exercises, and supporting development of new military drones.

The visible-light photo, taken by one of Maxar Technologies’ WorldView Legion satellites orbiting at an altitude of 312 miles (518 kilometers), shows what appears to be a fleet of fighter jets resting on the ramp adjacent to the runway surrounded by brown, arid soil. In the upper-left corner of the image, a ghostly oblong shadow appears in the picture with a silver-colored middle section and two darker-colored arms stretching to the sides.

The photobomber is a satellite — specifically, one of SpaceX‘s Starlink internet satellites, which Maxar identified as spacecraft number 33828. The mirror effect comes from a trio of rainbow-colored reflections of the satellite, which enliven the drab desert surface below.

Susanne Hake, Maxar’s general manager for U.S. government, who posted the image on LinkedIn, described the colorful reflections as a “pan-sharpening spectral artifact,” caused by the extremely high speeds — around 5 miles (8 kilometers) per second — at which the two satellites passed each other.

“Essentially, our imaging system was merging high-resolution black & white data with color data while the Starlink zipped past at orbital velocity,” Hake wrote in the post. “Physics turned a technical imaging challenge into accidental art.”

Hake added that, although the orbital encounter underscores how crowded near-Earth space has become, the incident was more of a spectacular rarity than a concern for safety or image quality.

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NASA Satellite Images Reveal Mysterious Blast Site of 1908 Tunguska Event that Scorched Remote Siberia

A fiery explosion tore through the skies over Eastern Siberia on the morning of June 30, 1908, decimating more than 830 square miles of frozen taiga in what remains the largest asteroid-related blast in recorded history. Known as the Tunguska event, today it serves as a stark reminder of potential dangers presented by space objects that cross paths with our planet.

In commemoration of the 1908 incident, June 30 is recognized worldwide as International Asteroid Day, as part of an effort to raise awareness about asteroid hazards and to promote international cooperation in addressing their statistically rare, but still ever-present and potentially deadly reality.

Now, revealed in satellite imagery obtained last summer by NASA’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, the blast site as it appears today can be seen to show no direct signs of an impact, or even any damage from the blast which more than a century ago that had been large enough to level a modern city.

Eyewitness descriptions preserved from the time of the Tunguska event are still haunting today, with many reporting observations of the blazing fireball streaking across the sky at an estimated 60,000 miles per hour.

In Kirensk, observers saw a ball of fire descend toward the horizon, followed by deafening crashes and thunderous bangs. One witnessed described seeing the blazing object descending, and after several minutes, hearing “separate deafening crash[es] like peals of thunder” followed by “eight loud bangs like gunshots.”

“As it approached the ground, it took on a flattened shape,” one eyewitness reported, while another described the object as resembling “a flying star with a fiery tail” that “disappeared into the air.”

“I saw the sky in the north open to the ground and fire poured out,” another witness description reads. “The fire was brighter than the sun. We were terrified, but the sky closed again and immediately afterward, bangs like gunshots were heard. We thought stones were falling… I ran with my head down and covered, because I was afraid stones my fall on it.”

Another striking eyewitness report detailed how heat from the blast wave struck him, carrying him off the porch of the local trading station.

“Suddenly in the north … the sky was split in two, and high above the forest the whole northern part of the sky appeared covered with fire,” the witness report reads. “I felt a great heat, as if my shirt had caught fire… At that moment there was a bang in the sky, and a mighty crash… I was thrown twenty feet from the porch and lost consciousness for a moment…. The crash was followed by a noise like stones falling from the sky, or guns firing. The earth trembled…. At the moment when the sky opened, a hot wind, as if from a cannon, blew past the huts from the north.”

Damaging vegetation in the community, the witness also said that “many panes in the windows had been blown out and the iron hasp in the barn door had been broken” following the incident.

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Satellite images undermine Trump’s claim that Iran’s atomic sites were destroyed

President Donald Trump’s decision to order US forces to attack three key Iranian nuclear installations may have sabotaged the Islamic Republic’s known atomic capabilities, but it’s also created a monumental new challenge to work out what’s left and where. 

Mr Trump said heavily fortified sites were “totally obliterated” late on June 21, but independent analysis has yet to verify that claim. Rather than yielding a quick win, the strikes have complicated the task of tracking uranium and ensuring Iran doesn’t build a weapon, according to three people who follow the country’s nuclear programme.

International Atomic Energy Agency monitors remain in Iran and were inspecting more than one site a day before Israel started the bombing campaign on June 13.

They are still trying to assess the extent of damage, and while military action might be able to destroy Iran’s declared facilities, it also provides an incentive for Iran to take its program underground.

Mr Trump dispatched B-2 stealth jets laden with Massive Ordnance Penetrators, known as GBU-57 bombs, to attempt to destroy Iran’s underground uranium-enrichment sites in Natanz and Fordow.

Satellite images taken on June 22 of Fordow and distributed by Maxar Technologies show new craters, possible collapsed tunnel entrances and holes on top of a mountain ridge.

They also show that a large support building on the Fordow site, which operators may use to control ventilation for the underground enrichment halls, remained undamaged. There were no radiation releases from the site, the IAEA reported. 

New pictures of Natanz show a new crater about 5.5 metres in diametre. Maxar said in a statement that the new hole was visible in the dirt directly over a part of the underground enrichment facility.

The image doesn’t offer conclusive evidence that the attack breached the underground site, buried 40 metres under ground and reinforced with an 8-metre think concrete and steel shell.

US Air Force General Dan Caine told a news conference earlier on June 22 that an assessment of “final battle damage will take some time.”

IAEA inspectors, meanwhile, haven’t been able to verify the location of the Persian Gulf country’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium for more than a week. Iranian officials acknowledged breaking IAEA seals and moving it to an undisclosed location. 

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Spy Satellite Uncovers Massive Stealth Flying Wing At Secretive Chinese Base

China is well aware that Western spy satellites, including those operated by the U.S., maintain constant overhead surveillance of high-value military assets, such as bases and research facilities. 

The deliberate exposure of a previously unseen, large, low-observable flying-wing HALE (High-Altitude Long-Endurance) unmanned aerial vehicle at the Malan test facility may not have been an accident. 

Instead, it appears to be a deliberate act of signaling by Beijing to the Trump administration, highlighting the rapid acceleration of China’s next-generation air combat capabilities at a time when the global security environment is rapidly deteriorating.

With the war in Ukraine ongoing and tensions in the Middle East escalating into a hot crisis, Beijing’s timing suggests an intent to assert technological parity and deterrence against the U.S. Broadly speaking, the world is entering a more dangerous and unstable era — a shift from a unipolar world with the U.S. in control to a bipolar geopolitical order, where volatility is expected to intensify throughout the 2030s.

The War Zone’s Tyler Rogoway cited new satellite spy images via Planet Labs that show the previously unseen HALE drone at a secretive test base near Malan in Xinjiang province. 

“Specifically, the craft was parked outside of a sprawling new facility that was built very recently to the east of the base, connected to it by a very long taxiway leading to a security gate,” Rogoway said.

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South Korea to launch fourth military spy satellite this week

South Korea plans to launch its fourth military reconnaissance satellite from a U.S. space base this week, the Ministry of National Defense said Monday, as the country seeks to better monitor North Korean threats with independent surveillance capabilities.
 
The military plans to launch the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 8:48 p.m. on Monday, according to the ministry.
 
The launch will be part of South Korea’s plan to deploy five satellites by the end of this year to enhance surveillance of North Korean military activities and help reduce its reliance on U.S. satellite imagery.

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Trump Administration Using Spy Satellites To Monitor Southern Border

The Trump administration ordered two Pentagon intelligence agencies—the NGA and NRO—to use spy satellites to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border in a broader effort to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking., according to Reuters.

The involvement of spy agencies and troop deployments highlights the growing militarization of the southern border, where Trump declared a national emergency.

Though the extent of satellite surveillance over U.S. territory remains unclear, the NGA confirmed forming a task force for the border mission, while the NRO said it was working with the Pentagon and intelligence community to secure the border.

The Reuters report says that their role stems from Trump’s executive orders targeting illegal crossings, trafficking, and the deportation of up to 14 million undocumented immigrants.

Trump, who made immigration central to his 2016 campaign, is now expanding the use of military tools—originally designed for foreign conflict—to the U.S.-Mexico border.

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U.S. Satellite Mapping Company Maxar Technologies Blocks Ukraine’s Access to Imagery, In a Renewed Blow to Kiev’s War Effort

The information coming from satellites, spy planes, surveillance drones and even balloons, along with SIGINT (signals Intel) and human assets hands the information to direct your artillery and drone firepower – to the point where we can say that the ‘surprise element’ has almost disappeared from modern warfare.

While thew Ukrainian forces have been putting up a gallant defense, it is only with the use of NATO top gear – and also with the US intel sharing in real time – that Ukraine has been able to avert a total catastrophe, even if they did lose over 20% of its territory, including most coastal areas.

But now, without US military aid deliveries, and with intel sharing blocked, Kiev has a big incentive to come to the negotiating table.

Today (7), it arose that another capability was withheld from Ukraine as US President Donald J. Trump turns on the screws on Volodymyr Zelensky.

Politico reported:

“U.S. satellite mapping company Maxar Technologies has blocked Ukraine’s access to its imagery, according to a report by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi.”

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Satellite images show Israel razed over 1,000 buildings in south Lebanon

Satellite images obtained by the New York Times (NYT) reveal the widespread devastation inflicted on the south of Lebanon by the invading Israeli army, including the destruction of at least 1,085 buildings since 1 October.

“One village, Mhaibib, appears to have been virtually flattened, with only a handful of buildings still standing. In five other villages and towns, entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble,” according to the US daily’s analysis.

At least 200 of the buildings destroyed by Israel were blown up in “controlled demolitions,” a practice the Israeli army has repeatedly used across the Gaza Strip.

“Controlled demolitions were seen in five of the six towns: Blida, Kafr Kila, Mhaibib, Ramyah, and Aita al-Shaab. It couldn’t be determined how other buildings were damaged,” the report states.

Besides satellite images, the NYT also verified the destruction from videos posted to social media by individual Israeli soldiers.

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Insurers Spy On Houses Via Aerial Imagery, Seeking Reasons To Cancel Coverage

Insurance companies across the country are using satellites, drones, manned airplanes and even high-altitude balloons to spy on properties they cover with homeowners policies — and using the findings to drop customers, often without giving any opportunity to address alleged shortcomings. 

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase across the country in reports from consumers who’ve been dropped by their insurers on the basis of an aerial image,” United Policyholders executive director Amy Bach tell the Wall Street Journal. Reasons can range from shoddy roofing to yard clutter and undeclared trampolines.  

Much of this surveillance is done via the Geospatial Insurance Consortium, which boasts of its coverage of 99% of the US population.

In pitching its ability to provide high-resolution “imagery and insights” for property reviews, GIC says insurers can use the service to “review risk and exposure on a building such as proximity of vegetation to the structure, whether a roof needs updating, and verify the exact location for a policy.” 

“If your roof is 20 years old and one hailstorm is going to take it off, you should pay more than somebody with a brand new roof,” Allstate CEO Tom Willson told the Journal, unapologetically and ominously adding that, where the company’s use of digital imagery is concerned, “there’s even more to come.” 

Wilson framed aerial spying as a pricing issue, but many consumers are finding that companies are using it to suddenly drop their coverage altogether. 

The Journal describes the experience of northern California resident Cindy Picos, who was dropped by CSAA Insurance last month, with the company saying aerial imagery revealed that her roof had aged beyond its life expectancy. She paid for an inspection of her own, which found the roof was good for another decade. CSAA wasn’t impressed, and said its decision was final. The firm also refused to share its photos, though it now says it’s changed that policy and will let customers see them — if they ask. 

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