NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Launch To Be Held In 2024

NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2024. NISAR will be launched on the ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. NISAR, according to ISRO, is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being constructed in collaboration with NASA.

About NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) 

• NISAR is a NASA-ISRO-developed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory with a 2,800 kilograms SUV-sized satellite.
• NISAR was created by US and Indian space agencies under a collaboration agreement concluded in 2014.
• In January 2024, it will be launched into a near-polar orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• The satellite is expected to be operating for at least three years.
• The three-year mission will examine all of Earth's land and ice-covered areas every 12 days. 
• This will begin following a 90-day satellite commissioning period.

Features of NISAR

• NISAR will be the first satellite mission to assess changes in our planet's surface using two separate radar frequencies (L-band and S-band).
• NISAR is a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite since it has both L-band and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) equipment.
• ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) provided the S-band radar, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) launch vehicle, and the spacecraft.
• NASA provided an L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder for data storage, and a payload data subsystem.
• NISAR will be equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar Instrument (SAR), an L-band SAR, an S-band SAR, and an antenna reflector.

• The SAR payloads installed on the Integrated Radar Instrument Structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus are referred to as an observatory.
• It also includes a massive 39-foot permanent antenna reflector composed of gold-plated wire mesh, which will be used to concentrate the radar signals emitted and received by the instrument structure's upward-facing feed.

About ISRO

• ISRO, or the Indian Space Research Organisation, is India's space agency that was established in 1969 to assist in the development of an indigenous Indian space programme.
• ISRO is a space agency of the Government of India which aims to improve national development via the employment of space technology while simultaneously performing space scientific research and planetary exploration.
• Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL) is ISRO's marketing arm, responsible for the promotion and commercialization of space goods, technical consultation services, and the transfer of ISRO-developed technology.
• Founder: VikramA Sarabhai
• Founded: 15 August 1969
• ISRO headquarters -Bengaluru.
• ISRO's current chairman- Shri S. Somanath.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an autonomous agency of the United States federal government's executive branch.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 established NASA.

• Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Founded: 29 July 1958, United States
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States