See How Rio Olympics 2016 Preparations Look From Space

Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics' opening ceremony kicked off yesterday with pomp and show. The opening ceremony may have been only a few hours long in duration, but the last four years saw Brazil preparing for the mega massive show in every possible way. And, what better way to look at how the country had been planning and getting itself ready for the biggest global sporting competition than from space. DigitalGlobe, a company that specializes in taking high resolution photos of our planet, has reportedly captured interesting moments from how Brazil got the arena and stadiums Olympics ready.

DigitalGlobe used satellites located around 600 kilometers from Earth to take photos over the past two years to show how the country prepared two of the key locations for the game, namely Corinthians Arena and Whitewater Stadium. The dramatic images show how Rio underwent transformation by giving us glimpses from space.

The opening ceremony itself had one tenth of the budget that London's 2012 opening show had, as Brazil is reportedly in the midst of a recession. "During the last two years I regretted several times and almost quit one or two times because the budget kept going down, down, down," said Fernando Meirelles, show director. "We had the show then we had to start from scratch, three times. This show is the fourth one. Now it's all good. I am happy, it's done. Let's see what happens".

According to reports, the opening ceremony centered around three key themes, the garden, diversity and joy. Each of the themes together was meant to send messages close to Brazil's heart. The first being that Brazil is the last of the world's natural gardens, the second shows how the nation's inhabitants enjoy diversity of race and in unison as they welcome all the participants and spectators of the Olympic Games. The third theme of joy was inspired by the country's happy spirit of the Carioca, the inhabitants of Rio and their ability to smile, welcome and hug, in short their capability of making everyone feel welcome and accepted. For now, here are the photos captured by DigitalGlobe that show how Brazil prepared for the Olympics.

Barra Olympic Park has come a l-o-n-g way. It will host 13 sports in 9 different venues. #Rio2016 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/OIQ9DY06DH

— DigitalGlobe (@DigitalGlobe) August 4, 2016