India successfully launches NASA-ISRO (NISAR) earth observation satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in partnership with NASA, has successfully launched the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, a cutting-edge Earth observation mission, from Sriharikota on Wednesday.
Notably, the lift-off took place on July 30, 2025, at 17:40 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
This landmark mission, over a decade in the making, represents a combined investment of more than $1.5 billion by the Indian and American space agencies.
NISAR was deployed into orbit aboard the GSLV-F16 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle). While such missions are typically carried out using the PSLV, this marks the first occasion a GSLV rocket has placed a satellite into a Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit.
It is noteworthy that the NISAR is the first radar imaging satellite globally to operate with dual radar frequencies, NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band, enabling it to detect subtle shifts on the Earth’s surface, down to changes as small as a centimetre, according to the two space agencies.