US and India launch first-of-its-kind satellite to monitor climate threats
US space agency NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have launched a US$1.5bn satellite to monitor environmental threats.
The NASA-IRSO NISAR satellite was launched from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 30 July. A decade in the making, it will map the Earth’s surface in minute detail, providing free data worldwide to help predict natural disasters and track climate impacts.
It is the world’s first radar imaging satellite to use two radar frequencies – the L-band provided by NASA and the S-band developed by ISRO – allowing it to monitor the Earth with centimetre-level accuracy.
NASA, which already has more than two dozen observation satellites in space said NISAR is the “most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built”.
It will map the planet every 12 days, providing data on glacier retreat, shifting groundwater, land deformation, and forest and wetland disruptions that could increase carbon dioxide and methane emissions.
The aim is to enhance transparency and accessibility in environmental research and help scientists and governments to predict and plan for events such as floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions.
The satellite will also map soil moisture and crop health in high-resolution to support precision agriculture and to help those in climate-vulnerable regions to manage droughts, optimise irrigation and secure food systems.
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‘Entire globe to benefit’
“The potential applications from the satellite are huge, and the global scientific community is eagerly awaiting the satellite data for their respective research and usage,” ISRO chairman V. Narayanan said after the launch.
“It is not going to be used by one or two countries. The entire globe is going to benefit from this great accomplishment.”
The satellite will take 90 days to deploy and is expected to start collecting data from the end of October.
India’s science minister Jitendra Singh called the mission a defining moment in India-US space cooperation and a boost to ISRO’s international collaborations.
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About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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