Striking images of Abu Dhabi landmarks captured from space

The European Space Agency released a video showing the capital from space

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata captured an image of Abu Dhabi from the International Space Station on January 31, 2023. Photo: Koichi Wakata Twitter

Part of Abu Dhabi captured on May 29, 2020, by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites. Courtesy: ESA

Abu Dhabi's Maqta, Mussafah and Sheikh Zayed bridges captured from space. Courtesy: ESA 

The Abu Dhabi International Airport from space. Courtesy: ESA 

Image of an Abu Dhabi island captured on January 27, 2019. Courtesy: ESA 

The Ferrari World Abu Dhabi as captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites. Courtesy: ESA 

A virtual tour of Abu Dhabi from space has been released in a video by the European Space Agency on Friday.

The images were captured by the space agency’s two polar-orbiting satellites that monitor variability in land surface conditions.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission satellites showed the capital’s various islands, bridges, Ferrari World, Mangroves National Park and Abu Dhabi airport from space.

“This week Copernicus Sentinel-2 takes us to Abu Dhabi, one of the seven Emirates that constitutes the United Arab Emirates,” the space agency said in the video.

“Covering an area of about 67,000sqkm, the Emirate is the largest one in the UAE, accounting for about 87 per cent of the total land area of the federation.

“It has about 200 islands spread along its 700km-long coastline. The city is directly connected to the mainland by three bridges – Maqta, Mussaffah and Sheikh Zayed.”

The video also shows the roof of the Ferrari World theme park, which can be seen from space.

Astronauts and space agencies often share images of the UAE from Earth’s orbit, especially of Dubai's Palm Jumeirah islands.