NISAR: First NASA-ISRO Joint Earth Observation Satellite to Launch on July 30

Overview: India and the U.S. will jointly launch NISAR, a dual-frequency radar Earth observation satellite, on July 30, 2025, from Sriharikota aboard GSLV-F16. This landmark NASA-ISRO collaboration will aid disaster management, glacier mapping, soil moisture analysis, and climate monitoring. NISAR marks a decade-long partnership, combining NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band radar technologies for advanced, all-weather Earth imaging.

Riyaz

Jul-22-2025

NISAR: First NASA-ISRO Joint Earth Observation Satellite to Launch on July 30

NISAR will be India and the United States first shared satellite, and it will be tested on July 30, 2025, at 5:40 p.m. at the Sriharikota station on a GSLV- F16 rocket. NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar or NISAR as it is known is an innovative earth observation satellite that is equipped with dual-frequency radar technology of both the space agencies. Its application will include disaster monitoring, mapping of glaciers, and soil moisture analysis, in high-resolution and all-weather. Its weight of 2,392 kg is going to be injected in a sun-synchronous orbit at 743 km distance. The partnership is indicative of more than ten years of technical cooperation between ISRO and NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Context

The NASA-ISRO collaboration serves as a breakthrough in international regards to cooperation in space.
In particular, the collaboration concerns the earth sciences and climate observation. The deployment of NISAR indicates the abilities of Indian space technologies and is in accordance with the trends on the global level to track the changes in the environment in real-time with the help of innovative satellite data.

Key Features of NISAR

Launch Details

Detail	Specification
Launch Date	July 30, 2025
Time	5:40 PM IST
Launch Site	Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
Launch Vehicle	GSLV-F16
Orbit	743 km Sun-synchronous orbit, 98.4° inclination
Satellite Mass	2,392 kg

Distinct Technicalities

Dual-frequency SAR:
NASA L-band radar
ISRO-S-band radar
NASA 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna is used
It is based on the modified variant of I3K satellite bus produced by ISRO
Extended-swath-and increased-resolution SweepSAR technology
First of its kind capability to scan a 242 km wide swathe keeping accuracy high
Revisit interval: Twelve days world wide

Applications of NISAR

Area	Application Example
Earth Surface Monitoring	Detecting land deformation and subsidence
Cryosphere Studies	Tracking glacier movement and ice sheet changes
Agriculture & Forestry	Monitoring vegetation, soil moisture, and crop patterns
Disaster Management	Flood mapping, earthquake deformation, cyclone effects
Maritime Surveillance	Ship detection, shoreline mapping, sea ice dynamics
Water Resource Management	Mapping surface water bodies and seasonal changes

ISRO-NASA Cooperation Background

Factor	Description
Collaboration Started	Over a decade ago
Main U.S. Partner	NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California
Indian Partner	Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
Joint Technology Used	Radar systems, reflector antenna, satellite platform
Goal	To jointly develop a high-precision Earth monitoring tool

The importance of NISAR

The synonym of India-U.S. strategic technological collaboration
Enhances the capabilities of India in remote sensing
Allows climate change studies, ecologically sound farming and disaster reduction
It improves the accessibility of data by Indian scholars and governmental institutions
Poses ISRO as the major actor in the world in the missions of Earth observation

Conclusion

The introduction of NISAR is history in the space cooperation agreement between India and the U.S. It can serve as a strong example of how a global way of partnerships can contribute to such a global good-driven innovation. NISAR is going to transform research on earth and practical solutions to natural and environmental challenges with applications to agriculture to climate resilience.