ISRO-NASA built NISAR satellite ready to be shipped to India for launch.

February 6, 2023

An earth-observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO that will help study Earth’s land and ice surfaces in greater detail is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September.
ISRO and NASA joined hands in 2014 to build the 2,800 kg satellite. In March 2021, ISRO sent its S-Band SAR payload developed in India to NASA for integration with the L-Band payload built by JPL.
NISAR will provide critical information on Earth’s crust, ice sheets, and ecosystems.
NISAR spacecraft will be integrated into the satellite bus at the U R Rao Satellite Centre for launch within the next year.
NISAR will gather radar data with a drum-shaped reflector antenna almost 12 meters in diameter. It will use a signal-processing technique called interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR, to observe changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces down to fractions of an inch.
The satellite will help researchers detect slow-moving variations of a land surface that can precede earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Data about such movements could help communities prepare for natural hazards such as the Joshimath land subsidence.
Measurements of melting sea ice and ice sheets will improve understanding of the pace and impacts of climate change, including sea level rise.
Over the course of its three-year prime mission, the satellite will observe nearly the entire planet every 12 days, making observations day and night, in all weather conditions.