What happened?
On July 21, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that it will launch NISAR — the first joint Earth observation satellite developed by ISRO and NASA — on July 30 at 17:40 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The mission marks a major milestone in over a decade of collaboration between the two space agencies. NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will scan the entire globe every 12 days, capturing high-resolution, all-weather, day-and-night data to monitor subtle changes in Earth’s surface, including ground deformation, ice sheet shifts, and vegetation patterns.
Why it matters to India
Weighing 2,392 kg and equipped with dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar — NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band — NISAR will be the first satellite of its kind to use SweepSAR technology and a 12-metre mesh reflector antenna. It will be injected into a 743 km sun-synchronous orbit and deliver a wide 242 km swath with high spatial resolution.The mission will support a range of critical applications, including climate change monitoring, soil moisture mapping, sea ice classification, ship detection, storm tracking, and disaster response. NISAR strengthens India’s global space presence and advances Earth science collaboration between India and the United States.