A glimpse inside North Korea from the International Space Station: Breathtaking footage reveals what life is REALLY like in Pyongyang - and is so sharp you can see people walking the streets (and spot there are virtually no cars on the roads) 

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Footage captured from the International Space Station has revealed a rare glimpse at North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang.

The video, taken by the Iris camera on May 30, provides a rare look at life behind the city walls, with sparse traffic and even pedestrians visible in the clips.

According to engineers from UrtheCast, people can be seen walking within the grounds of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the massive tomb that houses the bodies of deceased leaders.

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The video, taken by the Iris camera on May 30, provides a distant look at life behind the city walls, with sparse traffic and even pedestrians visible in the clips. A number of landmarks can be seen, as indicated above

The footage also reveals a number of landmarks, including the Chinese Embassy, Kaeson Youth Park, Kim Il-Sung Stadium, and the Arch of Triumph.

Across the water, there is a dolphinarium and a water park. 

Though the city is home to 3.2 million people, there's surprisingly little traffic clogging up the streets.  

‘The world doesn’t get many peeks behind North Korea’s walls, nor at its capital city, Pyongyang,’ Theras A. Gordon Wood wrote in a UrtheCast blog post.

‘Of course, it’s far easier to catch a glimpse from space.’

Though the city is home to 3.2 million people, there's surprisingly little traffic clogging up the streets, as seen in this view of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and nearby roadways 

In the footage captured by the Iris camera, a small group of people can be seen turning a corner on the grounds of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun

Iris was installed two years ago and resides on the Russian segment of the ISS. 

Urthecast makes the technology available to companies and individuals to gather more information about our planet.

For example, experts who are tracking deforestation or creating traffic models can use this camera, Urthecast said. 

The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun can be seen in the footage as well. This is the massive tomb that houses the bodies of deceased leaders (pictured)

The footage also reveals a glimpse at the Kim Il-Sung Stadium (center), the Chinese Embassy, the Arch of Triumph, along with a dolphinarium and a water park

‘The world doesn’t get many peeks behind North Korea’s walls, nor at its capital city, Pyongyang,’ Theras A. Gordon Wood wrote in a UrtheCast blog post. A view of the Kim Il-Sung Stadium is pictured 

Previously, Urthecast’s Iris camera filmed areas of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and Cape Town South Africa in 2015 for a breathtaking show.

The camera is so powerful that it was able to clearly capture cars travelling on roads and waves crashing on beaches. 

‘Yes, there are places on the planet where even drones and helicopters can’t be flown to capture video of the Earth below,’ Theras Wood, content and communications at UrtheCast, shared in a blog post.

‘Our space-based video captures the globe between ±52º north and south — an area of the planet in which ~95% of the human population lives.

Footage captured from the International Space Station has revealed a rare glimpse at North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang. A general view of the city's skyline is pictured

HOW THE CAMERA WORKS 

 

Iris is a medium-resolution camera that provides 5 meters per pixel for images and is required to stay on the point platform so it can aim at specific targets.

It rides on a steerable, gyro-stabilised platform controlled by a computer on the ISS. 

The computers cancels out, in real-time, any vibrations caused by astronauts' movements. 

As the ISS circles the world 15 times per day, the two cameras will constantly be rolling and capturing unique videos and imagery.

Iris was installed two years ago and resides on the Russian segment of the ISS. 

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, agreed to host the cameras on the $100 billion station for UrtheCast, a project of 15 countries. 

This was in exchange for rights to use images and video taken over Russia.

UrtheCast has commercial rights to images and video of the rest of the world.

The camera is unable to capture individual people, but it can get a crowd from about 220 miles above Earth’s surface, reports Mashable. 

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, agreed to host the cameras on the $100 billion station for UrtheCast, a project of 15 countries.

This was in exchange for rights to use images and video taken over Russia.

UrtheCast has commercial rights to images and video of the rest of the world.

The space company was founded by Wade Larson, a veteran of the Canadian space sector for almost two decades.

Stunning ultra high-definition footage from the International Space Station shows the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The camera is so powerful that it was able to clearly capture cars traveling on roads.

Iris, is a medium-resolution camera that provides 5 meters per pixel for images and is required to stay on the point platform so it can aim at specific targets.

It focuses on an are for about one minute, depending on where the station is relative to the ground.

And the images sent from the space station to Earth aren’t in the form seen in the videos.

There is a lot of post-process that is done to recreate the stunning images and videos.

Urthecast has also designed programs that aren’t affected by the movement of the station or the crew members orbiting around outside the station.

The space-based video captures the globe between ±52º north and south — an area of the planet in which ~95% of the human population lives.’ The camera unable to capture individual people, but it can get a crowd from about 220 miles above Earth’s surface.The camera shows an amazing view of the circular Cape May Stadium

Although this technology seems out of this world, Urthecast makes it available to companies and individuals to gather more information about our planet. For example, experts who are tracking deforestation or creating traffic models can use this camera, Urthecast said. Iris was installed two years ago and resides on the Russian segment of the ISS. Iris was able to capture the beautiful colors of Dubai

Last year the firm released full-colour HD videos of Earth – showing London, Boston and Barcelona - at an incredible 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution. 

This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet, and it's only a teaser of what is to come.

'We're revealing a perspective of Earth from space that was previously reserved for a small few,' said Scott Larso, UrtheCast co-founder.

Ranging in length from 34 to 47 seconds, and covering areas of up to 1.19 x 0.67 miles (1.92 x 1.08 km), the footage is, as of yet, unparalleled.

Wade Larson, UrtheCast co-founder, said: 'We are realising UrtheCast's mission to bring something really quite unique to the Earth Observation industry.

'With today's video release, we continue to move towards being able to deliver fast, scalable, and affordable Earth Observation imagery'