December is flying by and the holidays are quickly approaching. Join us for a look back on notable 2023 events as seen from space by the Maxar Intelligence constellation of high-resolution satellites:
Geopolitical Events
From conflicts between countries and rival factions, to ongoing development of islands in the South China Sea, geopolitics led news reports around the globe. Many of these events can be seen from space, and we’ve selected a few to share below.
Conflict continues for a second year between Ukraine and Russia
At the beginning of 2023, Russia and Ukraine were intensely fighting over the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. In this GeoEye-1 image from January 10, 2023, bomb craters are visible covering the area around a destroyed school and nearby buildings.
Fighting continued through the summer with Russia building extensive fortifications in fields and along roads. Those efforts included “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank obstacles and trenches as seen near Shyroke in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, in this June 1, 2023, image from WorldView-3.
Toward the end of summer, Maxar’s WorldView-3 satellite spotted two Tu-95 long-range bombers at Engels Airbase in Russia covered in tires. Our media partners spoke to military experts1 who theorized that the tires may have been intended to protect the aircraft from drone attacks.
North Korea holds nighttime parade
Maxar’s WorldView-3 collected a nighttime image of a large military parade in progress in Pyongyang, North Korea. The parade commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army. The image reveals a large North Korean flag and thousands of people assembled in formation in Kim Il Sung Square while new missile launchers parade by the reviewing stand.
Development in the South China Sea
Vietnam spent significant effort in 2023 expanding Pearson Reef in the South China Sea. As this GIF shows, the island has been built up from a small outpost in 2021 to a bigger island with a central port through dredging and landfill work by 2023.
Power struggle in Sudan
Rival factions of the Sudanese military started fighting in April 2023. This April 17, 2023, image shows destroyed airplanes at the Khartoum International Airport. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Global Conflict Tracker shows that more than 10,000 people have died in this ongoing conflict.
War breaks out between Israel and Hamas
Hamas militants started an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. This October 11, 2023, image shows the site of the Nova Festival, an outdoor festival that was happening in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border during the beginning of the attack. Hamas militants fired upon the festival, killing many and taking others hostage.
As the conflict continued, Israel issued warnings for Gaza residents to evacuate ahead of bombing campaigns. This November 17, 2023, image shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road in northern Gaza attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor.
A focal point of the conflict has been centered on identifying and destroying Hamas tunnels built underneath civilian infrastructure, such as the al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which is seen in this image from November 26, 2023.
Weather And Climate Events
Forces of nature wreaked havoc on man-made infrastructure during 2023. The gallery below highlights different types of storms and geological events.
Earthquake: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023. Maxar’s WorldView-3 collected this image of Altinuzum, Turkey, on February 7, 2023. In this image, you can see the fault line rupture through the fields and damaging the corner of a building.
Tornado: This April 1, 2023, image from WorldView-2 reveals a long ground scar from a tornado whipping through Wynne, Arkansas on March 31. The tornado caused significant damage to homes, buildings and infrastructure. The same day, another tornado touched down in nearby Little Rock, Arkansas; our analysis reveals the path of damage extends for more than 14 miles.
Volcanic eruption: The Hawaiian volcano Kilauea started erupting early in the morning on June 7, 2023, and Maxar’s WorldView-3 imaged the lava flows later that night. According to the National Park Service2 the largest lava fountains shot 200 feet into the air and this eruption added 33 feet of new lava to the crater floor.
Wildfire: The Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu experienced fast-moving wildfires during July 2023. WorldView-3 collected this color infrared image of the fire burning near Gennadi on Rhodes on July 24, 2023. The color infrared imagery shows healthy vegetation in shades of red and burned vegetation in black and grey; the active fire is bright reddish-orange.
Flood: A Mediterranean cyclone made landfall in Libya on September 10, 2023, and dropped a significant amount of rain, causing two dams near the city of Derna to collapse. The flood waters rushed through the city, sweeping entire neighborhoods out to sea, according to the Libyan National Army3. The before image on the left shows part of Derna on July 1, 2023, and the after image shows the same area on September 13, 2023.
Hurricane: On October 25, 2023, Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, as a Category 5 storm. According to NOAA4, the storm intensified so quickly that the city had little time to prepare. This side-by-side graphic shows Arena GNP Seguros before the hurricane and after immediately afterward when it was still flooded.
Human Interest Events
Some events just look cool from space while other events captured our attention to see how they end. This gallery showcases a handful of these occasions.
The Australian International Airshow, also called the Avalon Airshow, was hosted in March 2023. WorldView-3 collected this image on March 5, 2023, showing the Republic of Korea’s Black Eagles Aerobatic Team flying in formation at the airshow.
WorldView-3 collected an image at the height of the Takada Castle Site Park Cherry Blossom Festival on April 3, 2023. These Japanese cherry blossoms are in full bloom and visible from space!
The city of Denver, Colorado, hosted a massive parade and rally to celebrate the Denver Nuggets basketball team winning their first NBA championship. This WorldView-2 image shows the crowd gathered at Civic Center Park on June 15, 2023.
On June 18, 2023, a submersible carrying five people dove to view the remains of the Titanic and lost contact with its support ship. The world was captivated during the multiday search to find and rescue the submersible’s occupants. Sadly, a robotic vehicle found fragments5 of the submersible on the ocean floor on June 22. This WorldView-2 image shows the support ship and other rescue vessels the day after the fragments were discovered.
The trees in Lac-Nilgaut, Quebec, Canada put on a bright show of fall colors on September 27, 2023, for Maxar’s GeoEye-1.
Las Vegas, Nevada hosted a major automotive race on November 18, 2023, and WorldView-3 imaged the track at night earlier in the week. The track ran down the middle of the Las Vegas Strip and around Sphere.
SpaceX launched Starship for two orbital tests in 2023 as part of its development to reach the Moon and eventually Mars. In this GeoEye-1 image from November 17, 2023, Starship is prepared for its November 18 launch, when it reached about 91 miles above Earth6 before the vehicle was lost.
Happy holidays and cheers to the new year
As 2023 comes to an end, the team at Maxar Intelligence wishes you a joyful holiday season, hopes for peaceful resolutions to conflicts around the globe and looks ahead to 2024.
Members of the media can work directly with the Maxar News Bureau on investigations or sign up to receive distributions of current event imagery.
Citations:
1 “Russia is covering aircraft with car tires, potentially to protect them from Ukrainian drones,” CNN, September 6, 2023.
2 “June 2023 Summit Eruption,” National Park Service.
3 “Before-and-after satellite images show Libya flooding damage,” CNN, September 14, 2023.
4 “Hurricane Otis Causes Catastrophic Damage in Acapulco, Mexico,” NOAA, November 2, 2023.
5 “Presumed human remains and shattered Titanic submersible returned to shore,” Reuters, June 29, 2023.
6 “SpaceX Starship launch failed minutes after reaching space,” Reuters, November 18, 2023.