In a powerful demonstration of international collaboration, the United States and India successfully launched the groundbreaking NISAR satellite today, marking a new chapter in Earth observation and scientific cooperation between the two nations.
ISRO GSLV Mk II launches the NISAR satellite July 30, 2025. Credit: NASA
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in southeastern India at 5:40 p.m. IST (8:10 a.m. EDT, 1210 GMT), aboard India’s heavy-lift GSLV Mk II rocket. About 18.5 minutes after launch, the 2,300-kilogram satellite was precisely placed into a 745-kilometer (463-mile) sun-synchronous orbit.
“I am extremely happy to announce that the GSLV Mk II vehicle has successfully and precisely injected the NISAR satellite into its intended orbit,” said ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan, congratulating teams from both ISRO and NASA on what he called an “outstanding success.”
The mission is a significant scientific milestone — and a diplomatic one. “This Earth science mission is one of a kind and shows the world what our two nations can achieve together,” said NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, who noted the decade-long collaboration between the space agencies. “It really is a pathfinder for relationship-building across continents, cultures, and time zones.”
NISAR is equipped with dual radar systems — an L-band radar provided by NASA and an S-band radar built by ISRO — that will allow it to monitor Earth’s surface with unprecedented precision. Mounted on a 12-meter (39-foot) gold-plated mesh antenna built by NASA, these systems will beam radar waves down to the planet, then collect their reflections to gather high-resolution data — even through clouds, darkness, or inclement weather.
“This is the most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “With NISAR, we’ll be able to detect changes in land and ice as small as a centimeter, regardless of conditions on the ground.”
The satellite’s five-year mission will focus on tracking natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, and wildfires. It will also monitor human-induced changes such as urban development, agricultural practices, water usage, and infrastructure expansion. Thanks to its polar orbit, NISAR will scan nearly all of Earth’s land and ice surfaces every six days, providing consistent, global coverage.
The NISAR mission has been in development for nearly two decades. Its origins date back to 2007, when the U.S. National Academy of Sciences identified advanced radar imaging as a top Earth science priority. The formal partnership between NASA and ISRO was signed in September 2014 by then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and then-ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.
The mission carries a price tag of around $1.5 billion, with NASA contributing about 80% of the cost, according to India Today.
Over the next 90 days, mission teams will conduct detailed checkouts of the satellite’s instruments and systems. Once fully operational, NISAR is expected to become a cornerstone of global Earth-monitoring efforts, supplying data that will support climate science, disaster response, agricultural management, and infrastructure planning.
As the first major Earth science mission developed jointly by the U.S. and India, NISAR not only promises scientific insights but also symbolizes deepening ties between the two nations in the field of space exploration.
“This mission proves that when we come together — across borders, agencies, and disciplines — we can do truly extraordinary things,” said Swails.
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