NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Satellite Launch

• Launched on July 31, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is a joint earth observation mission.

• NISAR is the first satellite to use radars of two frequencies to monitor the earth’s surface.

• The mission aims to enhance climate resilience, agricultural monitoring, and disaster response.

• The satellite can see anything that has structure that moves, that changes its position at a scale of less than a centimetre over an area about half of a tennis court.

• The data will identify features and align those features from each radar.

• The Earth observation data has become an enormous area of interest, with about three quarters of the Fortune 100 companies drawing something from that earth observation archive.

• NISAR will start its 90-day commissioning phase after the launch.

• The design and implementation of NISAR faced challenges such as the need for a single reflector, the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about thermal load and overheating.

• The synthetic aperture radar created its spatial resolution as it moves along, creating no trade-offs in performance.

• The findings of NISAR can inform understanding about other planets and the interior of planets.