India seen from space: ISS shares stunning nighttime view over Arabian Sea and Himalayas

The International Space Station (ISS) has shared a striking nighttime picture of India taken from orbit, offering a glowing view of the subcontinent illuminated by thousands of city lights as the spacecraft passed over the Arabian Sea and the Himalayan region.The image, posted on the ISS’s official account on X, shows India glowing under 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,” 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, capturing cities, coastlines and weather systems from roughly 400 kilometres above the surface. Images of India shared from orbit often draw attention online, 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 shining under a star-filled sky. The image was part of a wider series of orbital photographs shared on social media.Indian astronauts have also shared similar views from space. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who has spent more than 300 days aboard the ISS across multiple missions, has previously spoken about spotting India from orbit 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 as seen from space.