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The world's largest salt flat is used to calibrate satellites

By The Salt AlmanacPublished November 8, 2026

Astronaut photograph of the vast white Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia, with a dark volcano near its centre
Salar de Uyuni seen from the International Space Station (2005). The dark peak in the middle is the dormant volcano Tunupa.NASA, ISS Crew Earth Observations. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Image source

Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni covers about 10,582 km² at 3,656 metres above sea level, and its height varies by less than one metre across the whole flat. That makes it ideal for checking satellite altimeters. After rain it becomes the world's largest mirror, and its first hotel built of salt blocks went up in the middle of the flat in 1993–1995.

Read the full story: Salt pan

More salt facts

The first car to top 300 mph did it on saltEnglish towns ending in “-wich” were often salt townsOne of the world's biggest salt mines lies under Lake HuronPolish miners carved a chapel, chandeliers and all, out of salt

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For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.

The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). The world's largest salt flat is used to calibrate satellites. https://saltalmanac.com/did-you-know/uyuni-satellite-calibration

Original sources

  1. Wikipedia. Salar de Uyuni. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni