NASA-ISRO NISAR Mission Launch Date Under Review

Work on the NISAR satellite has been completed at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment in Bengaluru, and preparations are under way to transport it to the launch site at the agency’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on India’s southeastern coast.

NASA and ISRO now are reviewing potential launch dates for the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission.

Launch services are provided by ISRO, using the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark II rocket that will carry the spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The launch readiness date for the mission will be determined by the two agencies in the coming weeks.

The NISAR satellite will scan nearly all of Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days to measure changes in the planet’s ecosystems, growth and retreat of its land and sea ice, and deformation of its crust. Information provided by NISAR will help with such tasks as infrastructure monitoring, disaster response, biomass assessment, and agricultural management.