BACKGROUND INFO
NISAR is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO and marks the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the US component of the project and is providing the mission’s L-band SAR. NASA is also providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru, which leads the ISRO component of the mission, is providing the spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations. ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad is providing the S-band SAR electronics.
US Mission to India’s Charge D’Affaires Jorgan K. Andrews said, “During their February meeting in Washington, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi underscored space cooperation as a priority for the bilateral relationship. NISAR, an unprecedented joint satellite mission between NASA and ISRO, marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between our two space agencies. As NISAR begins its journey to unlock new insights about the planet, it is a testament to this collaboration.”
Details of Launch:
- Location: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India
- Vehicle: ISRO Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle
