NISAR
India–NASA Joint Earth Observation Mission
NISAR (NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a joint satellite mission being developed by NASA and ISRO. It will carry two radar systems — NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band — making it the first satellite to use dual-band radar. NISAR will systematically map Earth's land and ice surfaces every 12 days, enabling monitoring of glaciers, forests, earthquakes, volcanoes, subsidence, and sea-level changes. It has wide relevance for UPSC: it is a flagship India–US science cooperation project, involves technology transfer in advanced radar, and produces data for disaster management and climate change monitoring.
- NISAR: NASA–ISRO joint mission; dual SAR — L-band (NASA) + S-band (ISRO)
- Mapping frequency: entire land/ice surface every 12 days
- Applications: glacier dynamics, earthquake monitoring, forest carbon mapping, urban subsidence
- NISAR represents India's deepest space science collaboration with the USA
- ISRO conducted collision-avoidance manoeuvres specifically to protect NISAR in orbit
● Tracked since April 20, 2026 · last seen August 13, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes