The International Space Station (ISS) has shared a striking nighttime image of India taken from orbit, offering a glowing view of the subcontinent illuminated by thousands of city lights.
The photograph, captured as the spacecraft passed over the Arabian Sea and the Himalayan region, shows India shining beneath a dark sky with clusters of lights forming a web-like pattern across the landscape.
The well-lit nighttime cityscape of India pictured from the International Space Station as it soared over the Arabian Sea and across the Himalayas. pic.twitter.com/h7Gnlev539
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 11, 2026
“The well-lit nighttime cityscape of India pictured from the International Space Station as it soared over the Arabian Sea and across the Himalayas,” the ISS said in a post on X.
Astronauts aboard the ISS regularly photograph Earth as the station circles the planet about 16 times a day.
From an altitude of roughly 400 kilometres above the surface, they capture images of cities, coastlines and weather systems during each orbit.
Images of India taken from orbit frequently attract attention on social media, particularly nighttime photographs that highlight the dense network of urban lights across the subcontinent.
Earlier in 2025, NASA released another nighttime photograph of India taken from the ISS that showed the country glowing under a star-filled sky. The image was part of a broader series of orbital photographs shared online.
Indian-origin astronauts have also spoken about spotting India from space during missions aboard the ISS.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who has spent more than 300 days on the space station across multiple missions, has previously spoken about seeing India during night passes.
More recently, Shubhanshu Shukla, who travelled to the ISS in 2025, shared a timelapse video showing the subcontinent illuminated at night, offering another dramatic perspective of India from space.
