US, India launch powerful Earth-monitoring satellite
ISRO's launch vehicle carrying NISAR lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's southeastern coast on July 30.
WASHINGTON - A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India launched July 30, designed to track subtle changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.
Dubbed NISAR (Nasa-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft blasted off around 5.40pm local time (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.
Livestream of the event showed excited schoolchildren brought to watch the launch and mission teams erupting in cheers and hugging.
Highly anticipated by scientists, the mission has also been hailed by US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a milestone in growing cooperation between the two countries.
'Congratulations India!' Dr Jitendra Singh, India's science and technology minister wrote on X, calling the mission a 'game changer'.
'Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change,' Karen St Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science division, told reporters ahead of launch.
'Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle.'
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Asia Trump says US will set 15% tariff on South Korean imports under new deal
Business US Fed holds rates steady despite Trump's pressure, with two governors dissenting
Multimedia 60 years, 60 items: A National Day game challenge
Singapore $10 million Toto results to be announced on July 31, after no winners in last 3 draws
World Canada to recognise Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney
Sport Ainslee Kwang, 14, becomes first Singaporean diver to qualify for World Aquatics C'ships semi-finals
Multimedia Firefly-inspired light show at Gardens By The Bay's Supertree Grove
Singapore Escape, discover, connect: Where new memories are made
By picking up on tiny shifts in the vertical movement of the Earth's surface – as little as 1cm – scientists will be able to detect the precursors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.
'We'll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and of course, we'll see wildfires,' added St Germain, calling NISAR 'the most sophisticated radar we've ever built'.
India in particular is interested in studying its coastal and nearby ocean areas by tracking yearly changes in the shape of the sea floor near river deltas and how shorelines are growing or shrinking.
Data will also be used to help guide agricultural policy by mapping crop growth, tracking plant health, and monitoring soil moisture.
In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will begin an approximately 90-day commissioning phase during which it will unfurl its 12m radar antenna reflector.
Once operational, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth's land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 747km, circling the planet near the poles rather than around the equator.
Microwave frequencies
As it orbits, the satellite will continuously transmit microwaves and receive echoes from the surface.
Because the spacecraft is moving, the returning signals are distorted, but computer processing will reassemble them to produce detailed, high-resolution images.
Achieving similar results with traditional radar would require an impractically large 19km-wide dish.
NISAR (Nasa-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is launched by ISRO's rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on July 30.
PHOTO: EPA
NISAR will operate on two radar frequencies: L-band and S-band. The L-band is ideal for sensing taller vegetation like trees, while the S-band enables more accurate readings of shorter plants such as bushes and shrubs.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and India's ISRO shared the workload, each building components on opposite sides of the planet before integrating and testing the spacecraft at ISRO's Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.
NASA's contribution came to just under US$1.2 billion, while ISRO's costs were around US$90 million.
India's space program has made major strides in recent years, including placing a probe in Mars orbit in 2014 and landing a robot and rover on the Moon in 2023.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, recently became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station – a key step toward India's own indigenous crewed mission planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan ('sky craft') program. AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Israel says ground troops conducted raids in Syria
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Israeli troops patrol the border fence with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights. JERUSALEM - Israel's military said on Aug 3 ground troops had operated in southern Syria, seizing weapons and questioning individuals suspected of arms trafficking, in the latest cross-border raid since the fall of Mr Bashar al-Assad in December. A military statement said that troops had completed overnight 'a mission involving on-site questioning of several suspects involved in weapons trafficking in the Hader area in southern Syria', near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. 'Troops entered four locations simultaneously and located numerous weapons that the suspects had been trafficking,' the statement said. Footage released by the military showed uniformed Israeli troops in armoured vehicles and on foot operating at night. An Israeli army division remains 'deployed in the area, continuing to operate and prevent the entrenchment of any terrorist elements in Syria, with the aim of protecting Israeli civilians, and in particular, the residents of the Golan Heights', the military said. As an Islamist-led offensive late in 2024 toppled Syrian president Assad , Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces following their 1973 war. In July, Israel bombed Syrian government forces in the capital Damascus and in Sweida province to force their withdrawal from the southern region amid a wave of sectarian violence. Israel said it was acting in defence of the Druze community, but some diplomats and analysts say its goal is to weaken the Syrian military and keep the forces of the new government away from the frontier. Israel launched hundreds of strikes on military sites followingMr Asaad's overthrow in December, saying at the time it wanted to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities it considers jihadists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria. AFP
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Armed groups attack security force personnel in Syria's Sweida, killing one, state TV reports
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria's internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday. The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month. Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze. The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources. A U.S.-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks. The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region. REUTERS
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
As Trump's tariffs bite, investors should ensure the companies they own have strong fundamentals
[SINGAPORE] It seemed like Groundhog Day again when US President Donald Trump unveiled revised reciprocal tariffs on imports from dozens of countries last Thursday (Jul 31). The adjusted rates came just one day before the previously announced reciprocal tariffs were due to kick in; the new duties will take effect only on Aug 7. To me, it initially appeared that Trump was once again delaying the full implementation of his tariffs while maintaining pressure on America's trading partners to open their markets. Some observers think Trump might be reaching his endgame on the country-specific tariffs, though. This could be good news. The revised tariff rates for many countries are, with a few notable exceptions, below the rates announced on Apr 2. For instance, the reciprocal tariffs on the European Union, Japan and South Korea are now all down to 15 per cent, from 20 per cent, 24 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. India is down to 25 per cent from 26 per cent. Closer to home, reciprocal tariffs on Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia are now all down to 19 per cent, from 49 per cent, 32 per cent, 24 per cent, respectively. The reciprocal tariff on the Philippines is now also 19 per cent, although this is up from the 17 per cent announced on Apr 2. Vietnam is down to 20 per cent, from 46 per cent previously. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The bad news, however, is that these revised tariffs would still add to the squeeze on global trade when they are implemented. By some estimates , the revised tariffs will push the average US tariff rate up to 15.2 per cent – from 13.3 per cent currently, and from only 2.3 per cent back before Trump took office. The economic impact of higher tariffs was blunted in the first half of 2025 by US importers front-loading their orders. Market sentiment has also been buoyed by massive investment in the artificial intelligence field. The remaining months of the year will probably be tougher for investors. Trump's tariffs are likely to create a demand shock in Asia, resulting in slower growth and deflation. On the other hand, the US could suffer a supply shock that results in slower growth as well as higher inflation – leading to politically charged policy dilemmas. Politics and policymaking Last week, Trump ramped up his campaign to oust Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for refusing to cut rates, insinuating during a visit to the Fed's headquarters that the cost of renovating its buildings was out of control. Trump also fired the commissioner of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week, after US job numbers for July came in weaker than expected . The BLS said on Aug 1 that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by only 73,000 last month. Adjustments for the previous two months were also larger than normal. Revised data showed US employers added only 19,000 jobs in May and 14,000 jobs in June, versus the previously reported 144,000 jobs and 147,000 jobs, respectively, for the two months. These political overtones could make it all the more complicated for investors to navigate the markets in the months ahead, as the full impact of Trump's tariffs is felt on growth, inflation and corporate earnings. At its policy meeting on Jul 29-30, the Fed decided to hold the target range for the federal funds rates unchanged, at between 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent. Two members of the 12-person rate-setting committee – Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller – preferred a 25-basis-point cut and voted against the decision. This was reportedly the first time since 1993 that two members dissented at a single meeting. A third member, Adriana Kugler, was absent and did not vote. On Aug 1, the Fed said Kugler had submitted her letter of resignation to Trump and would step down on Aug 8. She has served as a governor of the Fed since 2023. Tariff impact in 'early days' Powell said during the post-meeting press conference that the impact of the tariffs on inflation is not only uncertain, but is probably still in its 'early days'. 'What we're seeing now is substantial amounts of tariff revenue being collected, on the order of US$30 billion a month,' he said, adding that most of this is currently being paid by companies that are 'upstream from the consumer'. Powell went on to say that many companies have indicated their intention to eventually push the cost of the tariffs onto their customers. 'But, you know, the truth is they may not be able to in many cases.' The state of the US labour market is also something of a puzzle. While the pace of job creation has been weakening, the unemployment rate in July was little changed from previous months, at 4.2 per cent. 'What that's telling you is that demand for workers is slowing, but so is the supply,' Powell said. He added, 'Because of immigration policy, really, the flow into our labour force is just a great deal slower.' This suggests underlying weakness in the seemingly robust US economy. 'I think you've got downside risks in a world where unemployment is being held down because both demand and supply are declining. And, I think that it's worth paying close attention to it,' Powell said. Less forgiving markets These macro concerns do not appear to be hurting the US corporate earnings for now, though. On Aug 1, financial data provider FactSet said 82 per cent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported their results for Q2 2025 delivered positive earnings-per-share (EPS) surprises. Also, 79 per cent achieved positive revenue surprises. The market is, however, rewarding positive surprises slightly less than it has in the past, and punishing negative surprises more severely. S&P 500 companies that have reported positive earnings surprises for Q2 2025 have seen an average stock price increase of 0.9 per cent over the period spanning two days before their earnings release and two days after. This is below the five-year average of a 1 per cent increase. On the other hand, S&P 500 companies that reported negative earnings surprises for Q2 2025 have seen an average price decrease of 5.6 per cent – versus a five-year average price decline of 2.4 per cent. Among the notable losers last week was Apple, which saw its shares tumble 5.4 per cent despite reporting financial numbers that topped expectations . The S&P 500 ended last week 2.4 per cent lower. The Nasdaq 100 was down 2.2 per cent. The Singapore market was equally unforgiving last week, with the Straits Times Index suffering a 2.5 per decline. Among the notable losers was Seatrium – which ended last week 5.4 per cent lower, despite reporting sharply higher revenue and earnings for H1 2025 and drawing a line under its past involvement in a corruption scandal in Brazil. Singapore Airlines fell 9.9 per cent during the week, after reporting a steep slump in earnings for the quarter to Jun 30 that seemed to catch analysts off-guard and sparked a wave of 'sell' recommendations . Then, there was OCBC – the first of the three local banks to report financial numbers for H1 2025 – which suffered narrower net interest margins as interest rates sank. OCBC ended last week 2.3 per cent lower. DBS and UOB, which are both scheduled to report their H1 2025 numbers on Aug 7, ended last week down 3 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively. As Trump's tariffs begin to bite, investors should carefully parse the financial statements of companies in their portfolios to ensure their micro fundamentals are strong enough to weather the tough months ahead.
