NISAR Satellite Overview
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is set to launch on July 30, 2025. The satellite has been mounted on a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Launch Details
- The GSLV-F16 rocket will place the NISAR satellite into a 743-km sun-synchronous orbit.
Satellite Features
- It is the first satellite to use a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band.
- The satellite utilizes NASA’s 12-metre unfurlable mesh reflector antenna integrated with ISRO’s modified I3K satellite bus.
- The mission life is projected to be five years, with a 242 km swathe and high spatial resolution using SweepSAR technology.
Mission Objectives
- The satellite will provide all-weather, day-and-night data every 12 days.
- Applications include detecting ground deformation, ice sheet movement, vegetation dynamics, and sea ice classification.
- Additional uses involve ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterization, and disaster response.
