New Indo-US satellite to track every shake and shift on Earth
Earth observation satellites
ever built. The NASA-ISRO
Synthetic Aperture Radar
(NISAR) mission will lift off on July 30, marking a new chapter in Indo-US space collaboration, 50 years after the landmark SITE project.
NISAR will scan the planet every 12 days, detecting changes as small as a few centimetres across land, ice, water, and vegetation. Each pixel of its radar image will represent an area about half the size of a tennis court. The data will be freely available to scientists and used to predict floods, monitor coastal erosion, assess crop loss, and respond quickly to disasters. It will also support ship tracking and improve forest mapping.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Please select course:
Select a Course Category
PGDM
CXO
Product Management
Finance
Management
healthcare
Data Science
Data Analytics
Project Management
Others
Leadership
Cybersecurity
Data Science
Digital Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
Operations Management
Public Policy
Healthcare
Design Thinking
MBA
MCA
others
Degree
Skills you'll gain:
Financial Analysis & Decision Making
Quantitative & Analytical Skills
Organizational Management & Leadership
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Duration:
24 Months
IMI Delhi
Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Online)
Starts on
Sep 1, 2024
Get Details
This is the first satellite jointly developed by
NASA
and ISRO. The US agency has provided the L-band radar, while
ISRO
has contributed the S-band radar and will handle the launch from Indian soil. The combination of L- and S-band radars gives NISAR the unique ability to capture both surface detail and sub-surface changes, day or night, even through cloud cover.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
You will never turn off your computer again.
Panzer.Quest
Undo
'Using SAR, we can measure ground displacement down to even millimetre precision,' NASA-JPL project scientist Paul Rosen told Times of India. 'It lets us read Earth's surface like a series of moving frames.'
A leap from SITE to NISAR
Live Events
NISAR's launch comes exactly 50 years after another significant India-US collaboration—the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). In 1975, SITE began beaming educational programming to 2,400 villages across six Indian states using NASA's ATS-6 satellite. Launched just weeks after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency, SITE reached nearly two lakh people, trained 50,000 science teachers, and delivered practical advice to farmers. It was dubbed 'the largest sociological experiment in the world.'
'Fifty years ago, we used a NASA satellite to beam educational programmes,' said former ISRO deputy director Arup Dasgupta, who was involved in SITE. 'Today, we are launching their payload along with our own Synthetic Aperture Radar on an Indian launcher.'
Precision tool for a shifting planet
NISAR will observe everything from Himalayan glaciers and glacial lakes to the farms of Punjab and the beaches of California. Its radar will help track the evolution of glacial lakes and improve understanding of GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) risks, an increasingly urgent concern in the Himalayas.
'We've never had such a tool for studying Himalayan snow, glaciers and lake systems,' said Prof PG Diwakar of the National Institute of Advanced Studies. He also noted the L-band radar's capability to penetrate forest canopies and assess biomass, making it invaluable for conservation work.
'A dual-band SAR like this has never flown before,' he said. 'L-band opens up deeper imaging and new interferometric applications. You can track deformation, subsidence, and seismic shifts in much finer detail.'
In disaster-prone areas, the satellite's interferometric accuracy will aid early detection of ground shifts. It can also assist in monitoring oil spills and other environmental hazards.
A legacy decades in the making
NISAR traces its lineage to Seasat, NASA's 1978 satellite that was the world's first to carry a spaceborne SAR. Though it operated for just 105 days, Seasat's legacy transformed Earth observation science. Nearly five decades later, NISAR will continue that work for at least three years, beaming down more data each day than any previous remote-sensing satellite.
'This will be the first mission between US and India to observe Earth in such a detailed way,' said Nicola Fox, associate administrator at NASA's science mission directorate.
For India, which will lead the launch, NISAR strengthens its global scientific profile. For NASA, it extends a legacy of innovation in Earth science. Together, the agencies have built a satellite that doesn't just take snapshots—but watches the Earth evolve in real time.
With inputs from TOI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
80 years since US dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 5 facts about the attacks that changed history
As Japan solemnly marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki this week, the world reflects on one of the darkest and most defining moments of modern history. On 6 August 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, followed by a second attack on Nagasaki three days later. Together, the bombings claimed over 200,000 lives and forever altered the course of warfare, diplomacy, and science. Here are five key facts to understand the magnitude and legacy of the bombings: On the morning of 6 August 1945, a US B-29 bomber named Enola Gay released an atomic bomb dubbed 'Little Boy' over the city of Hiroshima. The device exploded approximately 600 metres above the ground, unleashing a blast equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. Around 140,000 people were killed by the end of that year. Just three days later, on 9 August, the US dropped a second bomb—'Fat Man'—on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 more. These remain the only two times nuclear weapons have been used in warfare. In Hiroshima, temperatures near the blast centre reached a staggering 7,000°C, incinerating everything in a three-kilometre radius. Survivors recalled seeing a massive fireball and being thrown through the air by the blast. Entire neighbourhoods, largely built of wood, were engulfed in firestorms that consumed all available oxygen, causing death by asphyxiation. One witness from Nagasaki, Koichi Wada, recalled: 'I remember the charred bodies of little children lying around the hypocentre area like black rocks.' Many in Japan who survived the initial explosions suffered from acute radiation sickness—nausea, hair loss, internal bleeding, and vomiting. Over the years, survivors, known as hibakusha, faced higher risks of leukaemia and other cancers. Yet, a Japanese-US research study found no significant rise in congenital disabilities among their children. What was the global aftermath of Hiroshima & Nagasaki? The bombings led to Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, effectively ending World War II. However, the attacks sparked global debate over the ethics and necessity of nuclear weapons. While some argue the strikes averted even greater loss of life by avoiding a land invasion, survivors continue to bear the trauma—both physical and psychological. Many hibakusha faced social stigma and were ostracised, particularly in marriage, due to myths surrounding radiation. Survivors and their supporters have become global advocates for nuclear disarmament. Groups like Nihon Hidankyo, which won the Nobel Peace Prize, continue to campaign against nuclear weapons. In recent years, global leaders have acknowledged the suffering. Pope Francis met hibakusha in 2019, calling nuclear arms 'a crime against humanity.' In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, embracing survivors though offering no apology. This year, in a significant gesture, Russia is among the 100 nations expected to attend Nagasaki's commemorative ceremony—marking its first invitation since the war in Ukraine began.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Gumla's edu plan to be showcased at national seminar
Gumla: The district's innovative education plan will be shared at a national seminar organised by Niti Aayog at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi on August 7. Former Gumla deputy commissioner (DC) Karn Satyarthi has been invited to present the idea that he mooted during his stint in Gumla. His initiative aimed to improve the govt education system, enhance Class 10 and 12 board results, and foster scientific temper and thought among rural students of govt schools in the district. "The district education department's Sikchha Kar Bhent represents a comprehensive community-driven reform designed to bridge the educational gap, particularly among underprivileged rural students, and foster a culture of inquiry, innovation, and scientific temper and thought," Satyarthi said. "It encompassed key components such as exposure visits to the ISRO launch pad by rural girl students, district science centre revamp, distribution of books, science kits, and lab materials to poor students, scratch coding workshops, hands-on robotics and competitions, a three-tier library model, and close monitoring by all officers, including police and paramilitary forces attached to the district's 126 schools, and a literature festival," he said. "Through this innovation, Class X board results improved from 17 to 7 in 2022-23, and Class XII results in science, arts, and commerce were 6th, 4th, and 14th, respectively, in 2024-25 in the state," said Dildar Singh, assistant nodal officer of the Sikchha Kar Bhent programme.
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
Trump orders NASA to kill 2 satellites that can function for many more years - the reason will shock all
Trump NASA satellite shutdown: The White House has directed NASA to shut down two carbon-tracking satellites. These satellites monitor carbon dioxide levels. The satellites provide crucial data for understanding climate change. Scientists, farmers, and energy companies use this data. One satellite is on the International Space Station. The other will burn up in the atmosphere if shut down. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Satellites Tracking Carbon Emissions To Face Early Shutdown What Are the Orbiting Carbon Observatories? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Former NASA Scientist Raises Concerns What Are the Orbiting Carbon Observatories? Lawmakers Push Back, Call Cuts 'Catastrophic' Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs A decision that has left many scientists and space lovers scratching their heads is that the White House has ordered NASA to shut down two important satellites that are still working perfectly and could keep doing so for years, as per a report. These satellites track carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere, which helps to understand climate change and how it affects everything from farming to energy industries, as per a Futurism Trump administration's officials have reached out to NASA to draw up plans for terminating the two missions, called the Orbiting Carbon Observatories , as reported by Futurism. Both of them have been used to collect widely used data, which provide information to oil and gas companies and farmers about the distribution of carbon dioxide and how it can affect crop health, according to the READ: When is Labor Day 2025 in US and what should you know before celebrating? One of the satellites is attached to the International Space Station, and the other is collecting data as a stand-alone satellite, as reported by Futurism. The latter would see its permanent demise after burning up in the atmosphere if the mission gets terminated, according to the Trump administration's move to end the missions comes at a time when the two observatories had been expected to function for many more years, and a 2023 review by NASA found that the data they'd been providing had been "of exceptionally high quality," as reported by review also found that the observatories give detailed carbon dioxide measurements across various locations, which let scientists get a detailed glimpse of how human activity is affecting greenhouse gas emissions, according to the READ: Another Indian-American shakes up Silicon Valley - Meet Shyam Sankar, Palantir's CTO powering company's meteoric rise An ex-NASA employee, David Crisp, who worked on the Orbiting Carbon Observatories' instruments, revealed that current staffers reached out to him, saying, "They were asking me very sharp questions," adding, "The only thing that would have motivated those questions was [that] somebody told them to come up with a termination plan," as quoted by explained that it "makes no economic sense to terminate NASA missions that are returning incredibly valuable data," pointing out that it costs just $15 million per year to maintain both observatories, which is a small fraction of the agency's $25.4 billion budget, as reported by other scientists who have used data from the missions have also been asked questions about terminating the missions, as per the the two observatories are just two of dozens of space missions that are currently facing existential threats due to the Trump administration's proposed 2026 fiscal year budget, according to the reasons for terminating these missions are not known yet, but there is only speculation given US president Donald Trump's staunch climate change denial and his administration's efforts to deal the agency's science directorate a potentially existential blow, as per the has led many scientists to argue that the move could precipitate an end to the United States' leadership in space, according to the Futurism report. Many lawmakers have also drawn up a counteroffer that would keep NASA's budget almost in line with this year's budget, as per the and top appropriator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) had siad in a July, "We rejected cuts that would have devastated NASA science by 47 percent and would have terminated 55 operating and planned missions," as quoted in the representative and Committee on Science, Space and Technology ranking member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said thar, "Eliminating funds or scaling down the operations of Earth-observing satellites would be catastrophic and would severely impair our ability to forecast, manage, and respond to severe weather and climate disasters," adding, "The Trump administration is forcing the proposed cuts in its FY26 budget request on already appropriated FY25 funds. This is illegal," as quoted in the Futurism farmers, environmentalists, energy companies, anyone needing detailed carbon emission will burn up in the atmosphere, and the other will stop collecting data, ending their missions prematurely.
