A London-based start-up that streams live ultra-high-definition video of Earth from space, using its own cameras on the International Space Station.
Sen is a London-based company that puts video cameras into space and streams what they see to people on Earth. Its main product is Space Live, a continuous ultra-high-definition view of our planet from orbit, filmed from the International Space Station (ISS) about 240 kilometres up. The camera system, called SpaceTV-1, sits on a European Space Agency module and has three views: a wide horizon view, a view looking straight down at Earth, and a view of a docking port where spacecraft arrive. Sen designs and builds its own technology, from the cameras and lenses in orbit to the software that sends the pictures to your phone or television. The video is compressed on board in real time so that it can stay live.
Charles Black, the founder and chief executive, says the aim is to democratise space. In his words the company wants to use video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all of humanity, and he has said the company is doing it for the people rather than for governments or defence customers. The idea first came to him in 1991, when he was 19. He built an earlier internet business from his bedroom, and Sen began developing its own technology in 2016 after he left it. Sen does not compete with companies selling satellite images for mapping or farming. It wants ordinary people to be able to see Earth the way astronauts do, and to follow humanity's journeys to the Moon and beyond.
The company is described in NASASpaceflight's 2025 interview as London-based, and its work is closely tied to other UK and European space organisations. Airbus acted as implementation partner for the camera system, which travelled to the ISS in March 2024, was mounted on the station using its robotic arm and went live that autumn. ITV Studios is a partner bringing Space Live to ITVX and other online platforms, and the stream also runs on YouTube, on sen.com and in the Sen app.
The pages we read say little about day-to-day culture and name only Mr Black on the team, so we cannot describe the working environment with confidence. What they do show is a company that does a great deal itself. It has passed vibration, thermal vacuum and electromagnetic testing and three NASA safety reviews per mission, and it picked lenses made from glass that does not darken in radiation after early cameras browned within about six months. That points to a small team with a hands-on, test-it-for-real approach, though that is our reading, not a company statement.
A company like this needs several kinds of people: optical and electronics engineers who design cameras for space, software engineers who build the streaming platform and apps, video and broadcast specialists, people who work with space agencies and partners on safety and approvals, and staff in marketing and community. Physics, engineering, computing and media subjects all lead here. Future plans include steerable cameras, a free TV channel and cameras on commercial space stations and around the Moon.
Website: sen.com
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