On July 30th, 2025, India and the United States sent a powerful new set of radar eyes into the sky.
The NISAR satellite, a joint mission of NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) took off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in southeastern India, opening a new era of radar Earth observation. The launch site is located on the barrier island of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
NISAR is “the most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built,” according to Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “The science of NISAR will advance our understanding of the Earth system with cutting-edge technology capable of studying changes in land and ice — changes as small as a centimeter, in any weather and in both darkness and light.”
The satellite, which has been in development for over a decade and is expected to have a mission life of five years, will orbit the Earth once every 97 minutes and send images of Earth’s land surface, as well as some portions of the ocean’s surface, every 12 days. The unique Earth imaging satellite is a technological marvel and will be able to warn scientists about natural disasters, saving lives. Its dual-band radar will allow scientists to monitor the Earth with unprecedented precision. The L-band radar from NASA penetrates deep into forests, and the ISRO S-band radar is great for crops.
See a live video of the launch
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
