Touchdown in Bengaluru: NASA-ISRO partnership’s satellite NISAR arrives in India

In a major step towards forging the US-India ties in civil-space collaboration, the US Air Force on Wednesday handed over NISAR, an earth observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO, to the Indian space agency.

A US Air Force C-17 aircraft carrying the NASA-ISRO synthetic aperture radar (NISAR) has landed in Bengaluru, the US Consulate in Chennai said.

The satellite is an outcome of a collaboration between the American space agency NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"Touchdown in Bengaluru! @ISRO receives NISAR (@NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) on a @USAirforce C-17 from @NASAJPL in California, setting the stage for final integration of the Earth observation satellite, a true symbol of #USIndia civil space collaboration. #USIndiaTogether," the US Consulate General, Chennai tweeted. NISAR will be used by ISRO for a variety of purposes including agricultural mapping, and landslide-prone areas.

The satellite is expected to be launched in 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, into a near-polar orbit.

What is NISAR and its mission?

NISAR stands for "NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar". It is a joint mission between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) to develop and launch a satellite with advanced imaging capabilities.

The NISAR satellite will carry a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument that will collect data on Earth's surface. SAR uses radio waves to create detailed images of the surface of the Earth, even through clouds and at night. This data will be used for a variety of applications, such as monitoring natural disasters, measuring changes in the Earth's surface, and studying the effects of climate change.

The NISAR mission is scheduled to launch in 2023, and the satellite will be placed in a polar orbit around the Earth. The project is expected to help scientists better understand the Earth's ecosystem and its changing environment, and to assist in disaster management and mitigation efforts.