Latest news with #PhilBarela
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Countdown begins for NISAR satellite launch on July 30, 2025
The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled to lift off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40 p.m. on Wednesday (July 30, 2025). About 19 minutes after lift-off, the GSLV-F16 rocket will inject the NISAR satellite into a 743-km sun-synchronous orbit. The NISAR satellite — NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite — will scan the Earth and provide all-weather, day-and-night data at 12-day intervals, and enable a wide range of applications. It is the first joint satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Senior NASA officials said that working with the ISRO on the mission has strengthened their relationship. The Director of Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Karen St. Germain said, 'Building a satellite on opposite sides of the world during a global pandemic was really hard, but it strengthened our relationship with ISRO. The collaboration, the cooperation, information sharing, and, frankly, joint learning between our two agencies is a foundation that we look forward to continuing to build upon.' She added that NISAR is a model for the next generation of Earth observation capability. 'India built the spacecraft bus and the S-band radar and is providing the launch vehicle, launch services, and satellite mission operations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built the L-band radar and the mission's radar reflector and boom. NASA is also providing a high-rated communications subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and the payload data subsystem,' she added. Phil Barela, NISAR project manager, JPL, said that the two space agencies learnt a lot from each other in the last decade. 'We have been at this for over a decade with our partner, ISRO, and it has been a phenomenal journey. The amount that we have learned from each other during this period has just been phenomenal,' Mr. Barela said. He added that during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, around 65 ISRO engineers visited JPL to work on the integration and conduct tests. 'Over the last two-and-a-half years, NASA has sent out over 175 engineers to ISRO's facilities to keep the integration and tests going and get us ready for where we stand today and ready for launch. It has been a wonderful journey. I'm anticipating a lot of very happy people, not only in the U.S., but also in India,' he added.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Countdown begins for NISAR satellite launch
The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled to lift off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40 p.m. on Wednesday (July 30, 2025). About 19 minutes after lift-off, the GSLV-F16 rocket will inject the NISAR satellite into a 743-km sun-synchronous orbit. The NISAR satellite – NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite – will scan the Earth and provide all-weather, day-and-night data at 12-day intervals, and enable a wide range of applications. It is the first joint satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Senior NASA officials said that working with the ISRO on the mission has strengthened their relationship. The Director of Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Karen St. Germain said, 'Building a satellite on opposite sides of the world during a global pandemic was really hard, but it strengthened our relationship with ISRO. The collaboration, the cooperation, information sharing, and, frankly, joint learning between our two agencies is a foundation that we look forward to continuing to build upon.' She added that NISAR is a model for the next generation of Earth observation capability. 'India built the spacecraft bus and the S-band radar and is providing the launch vehicle, launch services, and satellite mission operations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) built the L-band radar and the mission's radar reflector and boom. NASA is also providing a high-rated communications subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and the payload data subsystem,' she added. Phil Barela, NISAR project manager, JPL, said that the two space agencies learnt a lot from each other in the last decade. 'We have been at this for over a decade with our partner, ISRO, and it has been a phenomenal journey. The amount that we have learned from each other during this period has just been phenomenal,' Mr. Barela said. He added that during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, around 65 ISRO engineers visited JPL to work on the integration and conduct tests. 'Over the last two-and-a-half years, NASA has sent out over 175 engineers to ISRO's facilities to keep the integration and tests going and get us ready for where we stand today and ready for launch. It has been a wonderful journey. I'm anticipating a lot of very happy people, not only in the U.S., but also in India,' he added.
News18
2 days ago
- Science
- News18
NISAR Satellite Will Monitor Earth Like Never Before, Says NASA As India Prepares For Lift-Off
Last Updated: Equipped with dual-frequency radar and the largest-ever antenna ever deployed in space, NISAR is the most expensive earth-observation satellite ever built, at $1.5 billion. At 5:40 pm on July 30, India's heaviest rocket GSLV, will lift off from Sriharikota carrying the most sophisticated radar satellite ever built. The 2393-kg satellite developed at a cost of $1.5 billion, marks the culmination of a decade of hard-work by scientists from NASA and ISRO who persevered through the pandemic to bring the mission to fruition. 'Everything looks good. The rocket is set. The weather is fine. We are ready to go," said Phil Barela, NISAR Project Manager from Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the pre-launch briefing 48 hours before the lift-off. A team of scientists from NASA-JPL is currently in India working closely with ISRO scientists, as the much-anticipated Indo-US satellite mission gears up for take-off. The much-anticipated NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is one of the biggest Indo-US satellite missions – that will provide a three-dimensional view of Earth in unprecedented detail. The first-of-its-kind satellite will scan nearly all the Earth's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, observing changes as small as a centimeter with high-resolution imagery, collecting earth observation like no other NASA satellite before it. 'We already have over two dozen missions in orbit observing Earth, but NISAR is a groundbreaking mission. It will advance our understanding significantly, with the ability to detect changes as small as a centimetre – regardless of the weather conditions. It has brought India and the US together to study Earth like never before," said Karen St Germain, Director of Earth science at NASA on Monday. The satellite will provide a detailed record of how Earth's land and oceans are changing over time – boosting climate research. The data will help scientists see the precursors to natural hazards like landslides, earthquakes and volcanoes to aid in disaster warnings and preparedness. The satellite worth $1.5 billion with NASA accounting for roughly $1.2 billion is one of the most expensive earth-imaging satellites ever built. While NASA has contributed the L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar – a high-rate telecommunication subsystem, GPS receivers and a deployable 12-meter unfurlable antenna. ISRO, on its part has provided the S-band SAR payload, the spacecraft bus to accommodate both payloads, the GSLV rocket and all associated launch services. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth's surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 12 meters. Result – about 80 terabytes of data products per day over the course of NISAR's prime mission. The information will be processed, stored and distributed via the cloud – freely accessible to all. 'Any process that moves the land – even by just a few millimeters – NISAR will observe. No other Earth-monitoring mission offers this level of detail and frequency," noted Gerald Bawden, NISAR Program Scientist at NASA. view comments First Published: July 29, 2025, 12:35 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
