NASA-ISRO joint mission NISAR to launch on Wednesday, countdown for GSLV-F16 launch begins
This launch marks the 102nd mission from the Indian spaceport and is significant for being the first Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) mission directed to a Sun-synchronous polar orbit.
Jointly developed by NASA and ISRO over more than a decade, the NISAR mission aims to deliver high-resolution, dual-band radar data that will help monitor changes in the Earth's land and ice surfaces. The partnership was given renewed momentum following discussions between leaders of the United States and India earlier this year.
GSLV-F16, standing at 51.7 metres, is a three-stage launch vehicle and this flight represents its 18th mission. It is also the ninth time the rocket will operate using an indigenous cryogenic upper stage.
Once launched, the satellite is expected to reach a designated orbit approximately 740 kilometres above Earth after a 19-minute flight. Unlike previous Indian earth observation satellites that primarily focused on national territory, NISAR is designed for global monitoring.
The satellite carries two radar systems: a NASA-provided L-band and an ISRO-supplied S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar. Together, they enable fully polarimetric and interferometric imaging, capable of capturing detailed measurements of land displacement, ice sheet movement, and ecosystem dynamics every 12 days.
NISAR will implement a SweepSAR mode, a technique that combines high resolution with a wide imaging swath. This feature is expected to significantly improve the mapping of land changes over time, including coastal erosion, glacier shifts, and agricultural transformations.
ISRO highlighted that this mission broadens the scope of international data-sharing and cooperation, building on previous joint efforts such as Chandrayaan-1 and astronaut collaboration during Axiom Mission 4 aboard the International Space Station.
With NISAR, both space agencies intend to support scientific research in areas such as natural disasters, sea-level rise, and climate change, using radar imaging tools suited for long-term environmental observation.
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The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
World's highest bird death rates at Thar Desert wind farms
In the first half of 2025, India added around 3.5 GW to the wind sector – an 82% year-on-year growth – taking the total installed capacity to 51.3 GW. Even so, India's wind power remains largely untapped. According to the National Institute of Wind Energy, India's gross wind power potential is 1163.9 GW at 150 m above ground level. At the Global Wind Day Conference in June, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi urged States to address land availability and transmission delays post-haste. India's ambitious climate goals and surging energy demands mean renewable energy development will continue to accelerate. Experts are concerned, however, that the addition of wind power capacity has been coming at the expense of avian welfare. Bird mortality at wind farms For years, researchers have raised concerns about the impact of wind turbines on fauna, particularly birds. A study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), published recently in Nature Scientific Reports, has estimated that bird mortality rates at wind farms are the highest in the world in India's Thar Desert. The study was conducted in a 3,000 sq. km desert landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, home to around 900 wind turbines and 272 bird species, including the critically endangered great Indian bustard. Across seven multi-season surveys, WII researchers searched for bird carcasses within a 150-m radius of 90 randomly selected wind turbines and found 124. The estimated annual bird mortality per 1,000 sq. km came up to 4,464 birds after correcting for non-detection due to vegetation cover or carcass degradation during the survey and due to carcass scavenging before the survey. The researchers conducted similar surveys at 28 randomly selected control sites (between 500 and 2,000 m of any turbine) to account for the natural mortality of birds and found no carcasses. 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The Hindu
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