The United States and India have successfully launched the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, an advanced Earth observation mission designed to monitor even the most subtle changes on the planet’s surface.
Lifted off at 12:10 GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast, the $1.3 billion mission aims to revolutionize our understanding of natural and human-induced disasters.
This sophisticated satellite, now orbiting Earth's poles at an altitude of 747 kilometers (464 miles), will gather critical data on events such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, glacial melting, and volcanic activity.
Developed jointly by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), NISAR is the world’s first radar imaging satellite to operate using dual-frequency radar. NASA provided the L-band radar system, while ISRO contributed the S-band radar and the satellite’s structural components. Together, these instruments enable continuous, all-weather monitoring of Earth’s surface, capturing shifts as minor as one centimeter every 12 days.
Though not designed to forecast seismic events, NISAR will significantly enhance the scientific community’s ability to identify regions vulnerable to major earthquakes. According to NASA geoscience lead Mark Simons, the satellite will help pinpoint areas with high tectonic stress by observing subtle ground deformations over time.
NASA Earth Science Director Karen St. Germain hailed NISAR as the most sophisticated radar instrument ever constructed. She noted its ability to detect land subsidence, glacial melt in Greenland and Antarctica, deformation from volcanic activity, and even the spread of wildfires, regardless of weather or light conditions.
The satellite beams radar signals to Earth and captures their reflections using a large antenna reflector. These measurements, when compared across multiple satellite passes, enable precise tracking of environmental changes on a global scale.
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