Israel’s role as a “light unto the nations” became a reality when the International Space Station made a daytime pass over the Middle East last Thursday. Italian European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti noted an incongruous bright spot of light in the middle of the Negev Desert, identifying it as the tower at the Ashalim solar power station.

Intriguing sight! A bright dot in the Negev desert…so unusual to see human-made lights in day passes! It’s a concentrated solar power plant, one of the technologies to get renewable energy from the Sun. With one of the world’s tallest solar power towers! #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/MFbCpXpxmG

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 25, 2022

“Intriguing sight!,” the first Italian astronaut tweeted. “A bright dot in the Negev desert…so unusual to see human-made lights in day passes! It’s a concentrated solar power plant, one of the technologies to get renewable energy from the Sun. With one of the world’s tallest solar power towers!”

Completed in 2019,  the tower is 260 meters tall, including the boiler, making it the second tallest in the world today.