Earth from space - static image shown when WebGL is unavailable.

Orbital imaging desk  Sample

THE PLANET,
LIVE FROM
ABOVE.

DOWNLINK is a fictional imaging service that tasks a fictional constellation and delivers the frame to your desk before the next pass. The planet below is real - drag it, spin it, let it drift.

Sub-point Sample

00.0°N 000.0°W ALT 418 KM · VEL 7.66 KM/S · PERIOD 92.9 MIN
Receiving
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Textures: NASA Blue Marble & Black Marble · public domain

Transmission log

SIX FRAMES FROM THE LAST PASSES.

Every frame below is a real photograph taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, pulled from NASA's public archive. Captions are factual; the relay notes are part of the fictional service.

Towering cumulonimbus clouds over Earth photographed from the ISS
ISS048-E-046434 · 29 JUL 2016

WEATHER, TOWERING.

Towering cumulonimbus climb past twelve kilometres, casting kilometre-long shadows across the lower cloud deck. Expedition 48 crew.

Relay 04 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
The turquoise shallow waters of The Bahamas photographed from the ISS
ISS071-E-449837 · 24 JUL 2024

THE BANKS, FROM ABOVE.

The shallow carbonate banks of The Bahamas glow turquoise against the deep Atlantic, under a limb of curved horizon. Expedition 71 crew.

Relay 04 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
Earth seen through the seven windows of the ISS Cupola
ISS039-E-005387 · 23 MAR 2014

SEVEN WINDOWS.

The Cupola, the station's observatory, frames a day pass through all seven panes at once. Expedition 39 crew.

Relay 02 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
Sunrise over Earth's horizon with a Soyuz spacecraft in the foreground
ISS040-E-033340 · 03 JUL 2014

SIXTEEN SUNRISES A DAY.

A docked Soyuz crosses the limb as the sun breaks the horizon - one of sixteen sunrises the crew sees every day. Expedition 40.

Relay 07 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
Polar mesospheric clouds lit by an orbital sunrise
ISS024-E-006136 · 16 JUN 2010

CLOUDS AT THE EDGE.

Polar mesospheric clouds - ice crystals at 76 kilometres, the highest clouds on Earth - catch an orbital sunrise over the Southern Ocean. Expedition 24.

Relay 01 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
Sunset over the Indian Ocean seen from the ISS
ISS023-E-057948 · 25 MAY 2010

TERMINATOR, INDIAN OCEAN.

The day-night line stacks the atmosphere into coloured bands over the Indian Ocean. Expedition 23 crew.

Relay 01 · SampleNASA / JSC · public domain
92.9 MIN One orbit

The station circles the planet every 92.9 minutes, which is why every frame above exists at all.

7.66 KM/S Orbital velocity

Fast enough to cross a continent in the time it takes to finish a coffee. The camera never waits.

418 KM Altitude

Close enough for a hand-held lens to read a river. Far enough to see the weather whole.

Access tiers  Sample

BOOK THE NEXT PASS.

DOWNLINK is fictional - the constellation, the tiers and the prices are interface samples. The archive behind them, fortunately, is free and real.

Tier 01 · Sample

GROUND TRACK

One scheduled pass over a place you name, delivered as a single full-resolution frame.

$140 / pass
Tier 02 · Sample

SUN SYNC

A standing order for the same site, same light, every week - a year of change in 52 frames.

$900 / quarter
Tier 03 · Sample

POLAR

Continuous access for research desks, with raw telemetry alongside every frame.

On request