NISAR — NASA & ISRO’s First-of-its-Kind Satellite Successfully Launched from India

India safely launches a $1.5 billion satellite for NASA: Ars Technica →

Eric Berger, writing for Ars Technica:

The $1.5 billion synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, a joint project between NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, successfully launched into orbit on Wednesday aboard that nation’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, a medium-lift rocket.

The mission, named NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), was subsequently deployed into its intended orbit 464 miles (747 km) above the Earth’s surface. From this Sun-synchronous orbit, it will collect data about the planet’s land and ice surfaces two times every 12 days, including the infrequently visited polar regions in the Southern Hemisphere.

NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a collaborative mission between NASA, the U.S. space agency, and ISRO, India’s space agency. While the launch was successfully carried out by ISRO using its reliable launch vehicle, the satellite itself—equipped with both L-band and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar systems—was developed jointly by NASA and ISRO. It’s unclear why Eric at Ars Technica chose to describe it as a launch “for NASA,” given the mission’s deeply collaborative nature.