NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Satellite launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota

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This is the first dual frequency Radar Imaging mission marking a major milestone in Indo-US space collaboration.

About NISAR

Earth Observation Satellite (EOS): Images global land and ice-covered surfaces including islands and selected oceans every 12 days (orbits Earth every 97 minutes).
Weight: 2,392 kg.
Launch Vehicle: ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-F16.
Placing Orbit: Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit.
- It is the first time a GSLV rocket is used to place a satellite into Sun-Synchronous orbit.
  - GSLV is typically used for placement in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit/GTO (35 786 km).
Key Features
- Built around ISRO’s I-3K spacecraft bus.
- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR): Dual band SAR operating on both L (by NASA) and S (By ISRO) bands.
  - SAR sends out a pulse of energy and then records the energy reflected back after its interaction with Earth creating high resolution images through radar motion.
  - Processes radar signals received from different positions along the path, creating a larger "synthetic" aperture.
SweepSAR technique: For high-resolution, wide-swath images across broad range of terrain.
Expected Mission Life: At least 5 years.
Open-Data Policy: Information collected will be freely available to global scientific community benefiting developing countries.

SSO: Kind of polar orbit where satellites are in sync with Sun, matching earth’s rotation around sun and appearing to be in the same position relative to sun.
Polar Orbit: Type of Low Earth Orbit (altitudes under 2000 km) typically between 200 to 1000 km where satellites usually travel around Earth from one pole to another.