India and the United States are poised to launch their first joint Earth observation mission on July 30, a landmark endeavour that brings together cutting-edge radar technology and global scientific cooperation.
The satellite, NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), will be launched at 17:40 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota aboard the GSLV-F16 rocket, according to a statement by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Jointly developed by ISRO and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NISAR will employ a dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system—L-band contributed by NASA and S-band by ISRO, to monitor subtle changes on Earth’s surface with unprecedented accuracy.
The mission aims to provide regular imagery of the Earth’s land, sea ice, and vegetation every 12 days, helping scientists track changes in forest cover, wetland dynamics, seismic activity, subsidence, and glacier movement.
Described by ISRO as “One mission to watch Earth,” the spacecraft has been a decade in the making. “#ISRO #NASA builds, Earth benefits. This marks a key milestone in Earth observation technology,” ISRO posted on X.
The satellite's 12-metre-wide radar reflector, mounted on a 9-metre deployable boom developed by NASA, will be unfurled in orbit. The mainframe satellite structure is based on ISRO’s I-3K platform, and the entire mission involves ground station support, data sharing, and operations by both agencies.
“The spacecraft is built around ISRO’s I-3K structure. It carries two major payloads—L and S Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR),” ISRO stated. While ISRO developed the spacecraft, launch system, and S-band radar, NASA contributed the L-band system, reflector boom, GPS, and engineering payloads.
Following launch, the first 90 days will be devoted to commissioning—calibrating instruments and systems before transitioning to full science operations. During this phase, coordinated efforts between JPL and ISRO will generate the observation schedule, manoeuvre plans, and data protocols.
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The science phase will then continue for the satellite’s operational lifetime. Regular orbit corrections will be undertaken to ensure optimal data acquisition and coverage, with frequent coordination between NASA and ISRO teams.
NISAR’s sophisticated radar will enable high-resolution, wide-swath imaging, key to monitoring biomass changes, active crop mapping, urban subsidence, and natural hazards such as landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic activity.
Notably, this is the first time that scientists will have access to fully polarimetric, interferometric data from both L- and S-bands on a single platform—giving a global view of Earth’s dynamic processes.
The data from NISAR will be freely available and is expected to support applications ranging from disaster preparedness to sustainable agriculture, urban planning, and climate modelling.
Over 8 to 10 years, both ISRO and NASA worked independently to develop, integrate and test the radar systems. The IRIS (Integrated Radar Instrument Structure) housing both bands was assembled at JPL/NASA before delivery to ISRO.
According to ISRO, the mission is divided into launch, deployment, commissioning, and science phases, with each carefully planned to ensure seamless operation. A host of calibration and validation activities (CalVal) are planned post-launch to ensure data reliability.
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