Payload integration of NASA-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar miss | Astro Wonders

Payload integration of NASA-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar mission completed in US

The payload integration of the NASA-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) has been completed in the US and the same is expected to be shipped to India later this year for integration with the satellite and eventually the launch vehicle, senior NASA officials said.

A dual synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mission, NISAR is a first-of-its-kind endeavour that will be able to operate in two frequencies, both in bands lower than KU-Band or AA-Band. While Isro will develop and provide the S-band radar, expected to have a 10-cm wavelength, Nasa will supply the 24-cm wavelength L-band radar. Isro will also provide the launch vehicle.

This dedicated US and Indian SAR mission will be optimised for studying hazards and global environmental change and is the biggest cooperation between Isro and NASA.

As per NASA, NISAR will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other applications. It will observe land and ice-covered surfaces globally with 12-day regularity on ascending and descending passes, sampling Earth on average every six days for a baseline three-year mission.

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