The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch the NISAR Earth observation satellite jointly developed in collaboration with NASA today. The mission is being considered an attempt to boost ties between India and the United States on space exploration.
NISAR is an acronym for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite.
While the mission marks a first-of-its-kind partnership between ISRO and NASA, it is also the first time for a GSLV rocket to carry a rocket destined for Sun-synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO), unlike the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).
"GSLV-F16/NISAR Today’s the day! Launch Day has arrived for GSLV-F16 and NISAR. GSLV-F16 is standing tall on the launch pad. NISAR is ready. Liftoff today," ISRO said in an X post on Wednesday.
The countdown for the launch commenced at 2.10 pm on July 29 and has been progressing, ISRO said, and the mission would be classified into launch phase, deployment phase, commissioning phase and science phase.
About NISAR
The satellite aims to study the planet Earth as a whole from a Sun-synchronous Orbit.
The NISAR satellite is a combination of human skills and exchange of software and hardware between the two space agencies for over a decade.
The NISAR satellite, weighing 2,393 kgs, is expected to fly on a 51.7 metre tall, three-stage, GSLV-F16 rocket at 5.40 pm from the second launch pad at Sriharikota.
The satellite is capable of studying seasonal changes in forest dynamics, mountain shifts, glacier movements in the Himalayas and Antarctica, North and South poles.
NISAR mission's primary objectives are to study land and ice deformation, land ecosystems, and oceanic regions in areas of common interest to the United States and Indian science communities.
The ISRO-NASA Collaboration
In a first-of-its-kind collaborative effort, scientists from both space agencies were involved in building the NISAR satellite. While the spacecraft and the launch system are developed by ISRO, the L-band Radar system, high-speed downlink system, and GPS receiver are delivered by NASA.
ISRO is also responsible for the satellite and commanding operations, while NASA would provide the orbit manoeuver and RADAR operations plan.
The NISAR satellite carries dual-frequency. While the two L Bands are provided by NASA, the S-Band is provided by ISRO for the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), enabling the collection of a vast amount of data.
The S-Band SAR and L-Band SAR were independently developed, integrated and tested at ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, United States, respectively, ISRO said.
After reaching the initial orbital conditions on Wednesday, scientists would engage in 'commissioning' the satellite.
The first 90 days after launch would be dedicated to commissioning or to performing In-Orbit Checkout, the objective of which is to prepare the observatory for science operations, ISRO said.
