Tech

Here's what the Winter Olympics look like — from space

Key Points
  • Millions around the world will tune into watch the 2018 Winter Olympics.
  • Here's where the events will be taking place in South Korea, thanks to satellite imagery from ESA and Airbus.

Millions around the world will tune into watch the 2018 Winter Olympics, but to those unfamiliar with the geography of South Korea it may be hard to understand where the events are taking place.

The European Space Agency (ESA) flew its Sentinel-2 imaging satellite over the host city of Pyeongchang on Jan. 30, giving a stunning view of the mountains where most of the outdoor events will take place.

Just over 110 miles from Seoul, in the northwest corner of South Korea, Pyeongchang is tucked in the TaeBaek Mountains. The ESA image shows the location of the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Village, as well as where competitions in cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, bobsled, luge and skeleton will take place.

Further to the northwest on the coast is the city of Gangneung, where many indoor events will take place. An Airbus Pléiades satellite shows another cluster of Olympic venues, including the locations for hockey, curling, speed skating and figure skating.

The Gangneung Olympic Park as pictured by an Airbus Pléiades satellite.
Airbus DS

The Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 began officially on Friday and will continue for 16 days.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through the year 2032.