Satellite Photos Show Likely Osama Bin Laden Compound

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By Space.com Staff
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This January 15, 2011, large satellite image of Abbottabad, Pakistan shows the probable compound where Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed centered in the image. The house is on a upside down triangular shaped lot.
This January 15, 2011, large satellite image of Abbottabad, Pakistan shows the probable compound where Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed centered in the image. The house is on a upside down triangular shaped lot. (Image credit: DigitalGlobe)

Satellite images of the region of Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was likely shot and killed have been released by Digital Globe, a satellite imagery provider.

The archival images show the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan, a region that includes the probable compound where Osama bin Laden was living. Late yesterday (May 1), President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed bin Laden in a targeted attack on his compound. [Photo: Abbottabad, Pakistan from space]

The Digital Globe images were taken on Jan. 15, 2011 – before Monday's military action by Navy SEALs, which ended a 10-year manhunt for Bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Digital Globe located the probable compound using coordinates and physical descriptions through open sources.

This January 15, 2011, satellite image of Abbottabad, Pakistan shows the probable compound where Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed centered in the image. The house is on a upside down triangular shaped lot. (Image credit: DigitalGlobe)

In the satellite images, the house is located near the center on an upside down triangular-shaped lot. To the right is a right-side-up triangle-shaped open field.

Digital Globe currently uses three satellites to obtain commercial high-resolution images of Earth for customer use. The company's QuickBird satellite, as well as its WorldView-1 and WolrdView-2 craft, are its chief orbital assets.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.