6 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Collage](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-nisar-5-things-collage.jpg?w=1400\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nInformation provided by the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) will help to protect and inform communities around the world. The data will aid in managing agricultural fields, monitoring volcanoes, and tracking land-based ice including glaciers.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nLee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol<\/em>\u00a0aqu\u00ed<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nData from NISAR will map changes to Earth\u2019s surface, helping improve crop management, natural hazard monitoring, and tracking of sea ice and glaciers.<\/em><\/p>\nA new U.S.-India satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will provide high-resolution data enabling scientists to comprehensively monitor the planet\u2019s land and ice surfaces like never before, building a detailed record of how they shift over time. Hailed as a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during their visit in Washington in February, the NISAR launch will advance U.S.-India cooperation and benefit the U.S. in the areas of disaster response and agriculture.<\/p>\n
As the first joint satellite mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between the two space agencies. Years in the making, the launch of NISAR builds on a strong heritage of successful programs, including Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Axiom Mission 4, which saw ISRO and NASA astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station for the first time.<\/p>\n
The information NISAR provides will help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor agricultural fields<\/a>, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The satellite will also provide key global observations of changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, as well as forests and wetlands<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe NISAR mission is slated to launch no earlier than July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India\u2019s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.<\/p>\n
Here are five things to know about NISAR:<\/p>\n
1. The NISAR satellite will provide a 3D view of Earth\u2019s land and ice.<\/strong><\/p>\nTwo synthetic aperture radars<\/a> (SARs) aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet\u2019s surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth\u2019s surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 39 feet (12 meters) across. The satellite\u2019s ability to \u201csee\u201d through clouds and light rain, day and night, will enable data users to continuously monitor earthquake- and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing. It also will offer unprecedented coverage of Antarctica<\/a>, information that will help with studying how the continent\u2019s ice sheet changes over time.<\/p>\n2. Data from NISAR will provide critical insights to help governments and decision-makers plan for natural and human-caused hazards.<\/strong><\/p>\nEarthquakes, volcanoes, and aging infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth\u2019s surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a possible disaster. For earthquakes<\/a>, NISAR will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. The satellite will be able to monitor the area around thousands of volcanoes, detecting land movement that could be a precursor to an eruption. When it comes to infrastructure<\/a> such as levees, aqueducts, and dams, NISAR data collected over time can help managers detect if nearby land motion could jeopardize key structures, and then assess the integrity of those facilities.<\/p>\n3. The most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA or ISRO mission, NISAR will generate more data on a daily basis than any previous Earth satellite from either agency.<\/strong><\/p>\nAbout the length of a pickup truck, NISAR\u2019s main body contains a dual-radar payload \u2014 an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system is sensitive to land and ice features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. By including both radars on one spacecraft \u2014 a first \u2014 NISAR will be more capable than previous SAR missions. These two radars, one from NASA and one from ISRO, and the data they will produce, exemplify how collaboration between spacefaring allies can achieve more than either would alone.<\/p>\n
![\"Collage](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-nisar-5-things-collage.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>Lee esta historia en espa\u00f1ol<\/em>\u00a0aqu\u00ed<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Data from NISAR will map changes to Earth\u2019s surface, helping improve crop management, natural hazard monitoring, and tracking of sea ice and glaciers.<\/em><\/p>\n A new U.S.-India satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will provide high-resolution data enabling scientists to comprehensively monitor the planet\u2019s land and ice surfaces like never before, building a detailed record of how they shift over time. Hailed as a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during their visit in Washington in February, the NISAR launch will advance U.S.-India cooperation and benefit the U.S. in the areas of disaster response and agriculture.<\/p>\n As the first joint satellite mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between the two space agencies. Years in the making, the launch of NISAR builds on a strong heritage of successful programs, including Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Axiom Mission 4, which saw ISRO and NASA astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station for the first time.<\/p>\n The information NISAR provides will help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor agricultural fields<\/a>, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The satellite will also provide key global observations of changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, as well as forests and wetlands<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NISAR mission is slated to launch no earlier than July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India\u2019s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.<\/p>\n Here are five things to know about NISAR:<\/p>\n 1. The NISAR satellite will provide a 3D view of Earth\u2019s land and ice.<\/strong><\/p>\n Two synthetic aperture radars<\/a> (SARs) aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet\u2019s surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth\u2019s surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 39 feet (12 meters) across. The satellite\u2019s ability to \u201csee\u201d through clouds and light rain, day and night, will enable data users to continuously monitor earthquake- and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing. It also will offer unprecedented coverage of Antarctica<\/a>, information that will help with studying how the continent\u2019s ice sheet changes over time.<\/p>\n 2. Data from NISAR will provide critical insights to help governments and decision-makers plan for natural and human-caused hazards.<\/strong><\/p>\n Earthquakes, volcanoes, and aging infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth\u2019s surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a possible disaster. For earthquakes<\/a>, NISAR will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. The satellite will be able to monitor the area around thousands of volcanoes, detecting land movement that could be a precursor to an eruption. When it comes to infrastructure<\/a> such as levees, aqueducts, and dams, NISAR data collected over time can help managers detect if nearby land motion could jeopardize key structures, and then assess the integrity of those facilities.<\/p>\n 3. The most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA or ISRO mission, NISAR will generate more data on a daily basis than any previous Earth satellite from either agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n About the length of a pickup truck, NISAR\u2019s main body contains a dual-radar payload \u2014 an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system is sensitive to land and ice features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. By including both radars on one spacecraft \u2014 a first \u2014 NISAR will be more capable than previous SAR missions. These two radars, one from NASA and one from ISRO, and the data they will produce, exemplify how collaboration between spacefaring allies can achieve more than either would alone.<\/p>\n