Space Live: the new TV channel streaming absolutely spellbinding footage of Earth … forever | Television

I realize that at this point there are already way too many shows. Every channel, every streaming service is full of content demanding your attention, and there are simply too few hours in the day to watch it all. However, with that in mind, can I recommend a new show called Space Live? There is only one episode. The only potential downside is that the episode literally lasts forever.

In fact, this is incorrect. Space Live is not a show, it’s a channel. It launched on Wednesday morning, hidden on ITVX, and consists solely of live images of Earth broadcast from the International Space Station. It’s alluring to watch, especially for anyone who doesn’t realize that a person can be both amazed and bored.

It is presented as a world first. ITV has teamed up with British space media company Sen to use live 4K footage from its proprietary SpaceTV-1 video camera system, mounted on the International Space Station, giving us three camera views: one of the station’s docking ports, a horizon view capable of showing sunrises and storms, and a camera pointing down as the ISS passes through the planet. A tracker in the corner of the screen shows the live location of the ISS, while a real-time AI information feed provides information about our geography and weather systems.

Of course, if you wanted to be picky, you could argue that this isn’t really new. NASA’s YouTube channel has been broadcasting live images from the ISS for years and regularly attracts a few thousand viewers. But Space Live is, if nothing else, slightly sleeker. The pictures are certainly better: on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., Space Live showed magnificent images of the sun’s glare bouncing off the sea around the Bay of Biscay, when all NASA could offer was a piece of cloth with the word “Flap” written on it. There’s even a soundtrack, a sort of constant, soothing hold music that plays on a loop without ever becoming completely boring. In other words, it’s an improvement.

And, at least for the first orbit, it’s absolutely spellbinding. While it doesn’t quite deliver the big picture – the cognitive shift felt by those viewing Earth from space, leading to new perspectives on humanity and its place in the universe – it is nonetheless extremely humbling to realize just how small the planet is. The time it took for the ISS to travel from southeast England (where I am) to war-torn Ukraine could be counted in seconds. And then, through Asia, to Australia. In reality, very little separates us.

Inevitably, as the station traverses the Earth, drifting endlessly between sunrise and sunset, your thoughts turn to the people you know, wherever they may be. There’s something visibly comforting about that.

However, God knows that we cannot remain amazed forever. And it’s the same with Space Live. Eventually, the magic of technology, perspective, and the beauty of our planet begins to fade, and the experience becomes something akin to the map you end up looking at on a flight when you run out of movies to watch. Your attention starts to wander and you realize ITVX has other live channels to watch. One of them just shows Love Island. Another only shows Christmas movies. And then you realize, with a meltdown, that the majesty of the only house we’ll ever know spinning silently through space has become just another content option, along with whatever ITV channel is showing American Ninja Warrior Junior.

But even if you won’t watch it all the time, it’s good to know that Space Live is there. It’s not the sort of thing you’d imagine they’d display on the big screen in pubs – unless people really start going “Weeeeeey” every time they see the Ural River – but as something to have in the background, it’s undeniably calming. I suspect that, for a few, the channel will be something they continue silently throughout their day.

And, of course, it may not be the reason humanity first chose to embark on the miraculous feat of escaping the snarling bonds of Earth – you’ll remember that Neil Armstrong didn’t clearly say, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for the screensaver industry” – but, as an idea, Space Live cannot be faulted. I may not have it all the time, but whenever I need to be reminded of who we are and how little separates us, I guarantee it will be my first port of call.