Humans often struggle to grasp the full scale of events when viewing them from the ground. From space, however, satellites reveal patterns and details that transform our understanding of what's unfolding below.
In 2025, these images captured moments that were not only visually striking but also rich with insight - offering clues, raising new questions, and exposing the forces shaping our world in real time.
In this collection, NDTV brings 15 such images of major cultural, political, and environmental events that marked the year 2025.
January
The year kicked off with the gathering of crores of Hindus in UP's Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh, a religious fair that brings together seers and devotees at an interval of every 12 years. Within days of its opening, at least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured in a pre-dawn stampede.
February
NASA's Landsat-9 satellite sensor captured floating solar power arrays on the Omkareshwar Dam reservoir of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh. The image shows two floating solar projects that were commissioned in 2024: a 126-megawatt project and a 90-megawatt project.
March
In 2025, communities around the world battled wildfires, causing billions in damages. Two large wildfires impacted Los Angeles, US, in January. A burned area of Japan's Ofunato region can be seen in the satellite images below.
April
Thousands of people gathered in the Vatican City, Rome, after the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025. In the image below, mourners can be seen at St Peter's Square, where his body was laid before the funeral. President Draupadi Murmu was among the world leaders who attended the funeral.
In April 2025, the ongoing eruption in Hawaii's Kilauea's volcano delivered one of its most dramatic lava fountaining episodes of the year, with molten lava shooting more than 700 feet into the air from the crater. This episode formed part of the volcano's rare, episodic eruption cycle that has produced dozens of high-energy bursts since late 2024.
May
It was the most-defining moment for India this year. On May 7, Indian armed forces launched pre-dawn strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan in response to the brutal killing of 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam a fortnight earlier. The airstrikes triggered a four-day aerial conflict and resulted in heavy damages to Pakistani military facilities, including around a dozen airbases.
Satellite images helped India reveal the full extent of damages caused by its strikes in Pakistan and bust lies spread by it.
The satellite image embedded below shows damage to buildings at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi near the Pakistan army's headquarters.
June
On June 1, Ukraine launched a coordinated strike on Russia's Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk Oblast - one of the farthest targets hit during the war. Consequent satellite images revealed major destruction, with at least three Tu-95MS strategic bombers and additional aircraft damaged across the tarmac.
In late June, the US Air Force hit three nuclear facilities in Iran. Below is a satellite image of an underground facility in Fordow, where Iran was allegedly enriching Uranium to use it in nuclear weapons.
July
A satellite image taken by American geointelligence firm Planet Labs PBC summed up the essence of human suffering in Gaza. It shows people surviving famine desperately surrounding a group of aid trucks to receive basic food items, such as flour.
August
Every year, thousands of people gather in the Black Rock Desert in the US state of Nevada for the "Burning Man" festival. They build a temporary city dedicated to art, self-expression, and community.
The temporary city has an intricate geometric layout that's visible from orbit. Satellite photo from this year's festival is attached below.
September
As spring returned to the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic iceberg A-23A began rapidly breaking apart, marking the approaching end of one of the world's largest and longest-lasting icebergs.
A NASA Terra satellite image from September 11, 2025 showed its main remaining fragment at just over 1,500 square kilometers, only a third of its original size after drifting north for several years. Two nearby pieces - A-23G and A-23I-measured 324 and 344 square kilometers.
October
The White House in Washington DC is the most-powerful address on the planet. Its current occupant, President Donald Trump, ordered the demolition of its East Wing - historically home to the First Lady's offices - to make way for a privately-funded ballroom. Beginning on October 20, crews rapidly tore down the entire East Wing.
November
Many cities in Sri Lanka faced flooding due to Cyclone Ditwah that made landfall on November 28, unleashing torrential rain, severe flooding, and landslides across all 25 districts. Flooding continued into late November and early December.
December
On December 10, the US seized Venezuelan crude oil tanker Skipper which was allegedly part of an oil-shipping network supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Both organisations are designated by the US as foreign terrorist outfits.
In this image released by US earth imaging firm Vantor (earlier Maxar Technologies), Skipper can be seen roughly 33 kilometers north of Guadeloupe in the southern Caribbean Sea.
