ISRO-NASA joint satellite NISAR to launch on July 30 by GSLV-F16

The first joint satellite of ISRO and NASA, NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), will be launched by ISRO’s GSLV-F16 on July 30, 2025 at 5.40 pm IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, announced ISRO. 

ISRO’s GSLV-F16 will inject the NISAR satellite into a 743 km Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98.40°. 

Specifications of NISAR

NISAR, weighing 2,392 kg, is a unique earth observation satellite and the first satellite to observe the earth with a dual frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band) both using NASA’s 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna, integrated to ISRO’s modified I3K satellite bus. NISAR will observe earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time.

The satellite will scan the entire globe and provide all weather, day & night data at 12-day interval and enable a wide range of applications. 

NISAR can detect even small changes in the Earth’s surface such as ground deformation, ice sheet movement and vegetation dynamics. Further applications include sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping & monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response.

The NISAR launch is the result of strong technical cooperation between ISRO & NASA/JPL technical teams for more than a decade.