>>16703063
That close the surface it has switched to textures that aren't derived from real photos, or at least not photos taken from space, so the texture resolution is higher. I assume they're also using tessellation or something to give the terrain mesh a little more detail up close.

From low orbit or flying a good distance above the surface it still uses the real data and the resolution isn't high enough.
Pic related you can see the surface texture looks quite low resolution. Even the terrain mesh is lacking detail.

Again, it's not a technical problem or anything, they're just using placeholder assets while they work on the more important backend/mechanical stuff.
I'm eager to see how good their engine can look when they give it proper assets. With both Linx and Blackrack working on it I'm pretty optimistic.