Sen unveils 4K livestream of Earth and space station docking port

SAN FRANCISCO – London-based Sen unveiled an ultra-high resolution livestream Jan. 27 from space.

“This livestream represents the launch of the business,” Charles Black, Sen founder and CEO, told SpaceNews.

Since 2007, Sen has developed the technology and tools to offer the livestream, called SpaceTV-1, from the International Space Station. Advertising, sponsorship and subscriptions will provide funding for the livestream.

Through the livestream, “we want to empower people to see that we live on a beautiful planet and raise awareness about environmental events and climate change,” Black said. “A lot of satellite companies focus on providing very valuable scientific data to governments and businesses. But there isn’t anything that’s accessible or useful or inspiring for the public.”

As people on Earth become increasingly reliant on space-based broadband communications, weather monitoring and other services, Sen also seeks to “raise awareness of the importance of space,” Black said.

Sen’s 4K-resolution livestream will be available for more than 20 hours per day at Sen.com and on YouTube. Imagery is being transmitted to the ground through an intersatellite relay link.

“The focus is on building that into a profitable livestream over the next year,” Black said.

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense is hosting three cameras on the Bartolomeo platform attached to the European Space Agency’s Columbus module. A camera with a wide-angle lens provides views of Earth’s horizon. A second camera films scenes of approximately 240 kilometers by 180 kilometers, with a resolution of about 60 meters per pixel. Sen’s third video camera faces the docking port of the space station’s Harmony module.

Sen plans to send additional cameras to orbit in 2026. In addition to cameras on ISS, Sen captures video imagery from a 16u cubesat built by Kongsberg NanoAvionics and launched in 2022.