
NISAR AT A GLANCE
PTI
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), July 30 (PTI) As ISRO is set to launch the NISAR satellite onboard a GSLV-F16 rocket later on Wednesday, here are some of the significant highlights of the satellite jointly developed with US' NASA.
Some of the highlights of the mission •In September, 2014, NASA and ISRO sign agreement to launch a joint Earth Observing Satellite Mission.
•NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission marks the first collaboration between the two top space agencies on a project of this scale and marks the next step in Earth-observing mission.
•It becomes first satellite mission between the two space agencies for the use of double L-band and S-band radar frequencies to measure changes on the Earth's surface less than a centimeter across.
•NASA would provide L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar, a high rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers while ISRO would provide spacecraft bus, the S-band radar and the launch vehicle, GSLV-F16.
•NISAR satellite would provide a 3D-view of Earth's land and ice. It would continuously monitor earthquake and landslide prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing.
•Data from NISAR would provide critical insights to help governments and decision makers for natural and human caused hazards.
•It would measure the woody biomass and its changes, track changes in the extent of active crops, understand the changes in wetlands extent.
• Map Greenland's & Antarctica's ice sheets, dynamics of sea ice and mountain glaciers.
• Characterise land surface deformation related to seismicity, volcanism, landslides, and subsidence and uplift associated with changes in subsurface aquifers, hydrocarbon reservoirs.
•NISAR is the most advanced radar system every launched by NASA or ISRO. It would generate more data on a daily basis than from any previous Earth satellite missions.
• GSLV-F16 becomes the first launch vehicle for ISRO to launch an earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO).
•The GSLV-F16/NISAR is the 102nd mission from Sriharikota.
•The first 90 days after the launch would be dedicated to commissioning of the satellite in order to prepare the observatory for science operations.PTI VIJ SA
view comments
First Published:
July 30, 2025, 12:30 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
9 minutes ago
- The Hindu
How would NISAR expand our understanding of the Earth?
How would NISAR expand our understanding of the Earth? On July 30, the India-US space collaboration crossed a historic milestone with the successful launch of NISAR, or the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, a flagship earth observation mission jointly developed by the two nations' space programmes. It is the first satellite to use radars of two frequencies — the L-band radar by NASA and the S-band radar by ISRO — to continuously monitor the earth's surface. NISAR is expected to provide unprecedented data on land deformation, ice-sheet dynamics, forest biomass, and natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. With its high-resolution, all-weather, day-night imaging capabilities, NISAR aims to enhance climate resilience, agricultural monitoring, and disaster response. Beyond science, NISAR also holds commercial promise to enable new data services, geospatial analytics, and early-warning systems across sectors such as insurance, infrastructure, and agriculture. Guest: Dr. Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Hosts: Mukunth V, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu Video edited by Shivaraj S Audio edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Listen to more In Focus podcasts:


News18
17 minutes ago
- News18
Should we fight climate change by re-engineering life itself?
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Sydney, Aug 2 (The Conversation) Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth again, this time by releasing greenhouse gases that are driving dramatic changes in our climate. What if we could harness the power of living organisms to help rein in climate change? The field of 'engineering biology", which uses genetic technology to engineer biological tools for solving specific problems, may be able to help. Perhaps the most dramatic success to date of this nascent field is the mRNA vaccines that helped us weather the COVID pandemic. But engineering biology has enormous potential not only to help us adapt to climate change, but also to limit warming. In our latest paper in Nature Communications, we reviewed some of the many ways engineering biology can aid the fight against climate change – and how governments and policymakers can make sure humanity reaps the benefits of the technology. The first is finding better ways to make synthetic fuels that can directly replace fossil fuels. Many existing synthetic fuels are made from high-value crops such as corn and soybeans that might otherwise be used for food, so the fuels are expensive. Some engineering biology research explores ways to make synthetic fuel from agricultural waste. These fuels could be cheaper and greener, and so might help speed up decarbonisation. For example, it would be much faster for airlines to decarbonise their existing fleets by switching to synthetic zero-carbon jet fuels, rather than waiting to replace their aircraft with yet-to-be-developed planes running on hydrogen or batteries. The second is developing cost-effective ways to capture greenhouse emissions (from industrial facilities, construction and agriculture) and then use this waste for 'biomanufacturing" valuable products (such as industrial chemicals or biofuels). The third is replacing emissions-intensive production methods. For example, several companies are already using 'precision fermentation" to produce synthetic milk that avoids the dairy industry's methane emissions. Other companies have produced microbes which promise to fix nitrogen in soil, and so help reduce the use of fertilisers produced from fossil fuels. Finally, the fourth is directly capturing greenhouse gases from the air. Bacteria engineered to consume atmospheric carbon, or plants bred to sequester more carbon in their roots, could in theory help reduce greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. Beyond the technological and economic barriers, it's unclear whether these ideas will ever gain a social license. Given the 'science fiction-like" character of some of these emerging climate responses, it's essential that researchers be transparent and responsive to public attitudes. How engineering biology can help mitigate climate change Replace fossil fuels in transport Biofuel -Engineered microbes to store electrical energy in fuels or polymers -Engineered E coli bacteria to produce fuel directly from CO2 Hydrogen -Engineered microbes to make hydrogen gas by fermenting biomass Reduce emissions from production processes. Industrial processes -Engineered bacteria to absorb waste CO2 from industrial processes and store it or create useful byproducts such as ethanol Construction/Materials -Bacteria in cement and concrete to create more durable materials with lower carbon emissions Agriculture -Engineered plants to draw down nitrous oxide and methane from the atmosphere -Engineered rice varieties that produce less methane Substitutes for emissions-intensive products Animal proteins -Biofermentation to produce synthetic milk and meat, reducing methane emissions and other environmental impacts Fertilisers -Using cultivated or engineered microbes to fix nitrogen in soil Chemical manufacturing -Engineered microbes to produce hydrogen without fossil fuels Sequester or mitigate in the environment. Sequester or mitigate carbon/GHGs in the environment -Engineered crops to store more carbon in root systems and soil, and microbes to store carbon in stable minerals -Engineered plants to capture and store greenhouse gases Fact or science fiction? Just how realistic are these ideas? Bringing a new product to market takes time, money and careful research. Take solar power, for example. The first solar cell was created in the 1880s, and solar panels were installed on the White House roof in 1979, but it took many more decades of government support before solar power became a cost-competitive source of electricity. The engineering biology sector is currently flooded with investor capital. However, the companies and projects attracting most investment are those with the greatest commercial value – typically in the medical, pharmaceutical, chemical and agricultural sectors. By contrast, applications whose primary benefit is to reduce greenhouse emissions are unlikely to attract much private investment. For example, synthetic jet fuel is currently much more expensive than traditional jet fuel, so there's no rush of private investors seeking to support its commercialisation. Government (or philanthropic) support of some kind will be needed to nurture most climate-friendly applications through the slow process of development and commercialisation. Back to picking winners? Which engineering biology applications deserve governments' assistance? Right now, it's mostly too early to tell. Policymakers will need to continually assess the social and technical merits of proposed engineering biology applications. If engineering biology is to play a significant role in fighting climate change, policymakers will need to engage with it skilfully over time. We argue that government support should include five elements. First, continued funding for the basic scientific research that generates new knowledge and new potential mitigation tools. Second, public deliberation on engineering biology applications. Some new products – such as precision-fermented synthetic milk – might gain acceptance over time even if they at first seem unattractive. Others might never gain support. For this public deliberation to reflect the interests of all humanity, low- and middle-income countries will need to gain expertise in engineering biology. Third, regulations should be aligned with public interest. Governments should be alert to the possibility of existing industries trying to use regulations to lock out new competitors. For instance, we may see efforts from animal-based agricultural producers to restrict who can use words like 'milk" and 'sausage" or to ban lab-grown meat completely. Fourth, support commercialisation and scale-up of promising technologies whose primary benefit is reducing greenhouse emissions. Governments might either fund this work directly or create other incentives – such as carbon pricing, tax credits or environmental regulations – that make private investment profitable. Fifth, long-term procurement policies should be considered where large-scale deployment is needed to achieve climate goals. For example, the US Inflation Reduction Act provides unlimited tax credits to support direct air capture. While these incentives weren't designed with engineering biology in mind, they are technologically neutral and so might well support it. A bioengineered future in Australia? Governments are now involved in a global race to position their countries as leaders in the emerging green economy. Australia's proposed 'future made in Australia" legislation is just one example. Other governments have specific plans for engineering biology. For example, the United Kingdom committed GBP 2 billion (AUD 3.8 billion) last year to an engineering biology strategy, while the US CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 called for the creation of a National Engineering Biology Research and Development Initiative. If such interventions are to be economically and ecologically successful, they will need to work with still-developing technology. top videos View all Can policymakers work with this kind of uncertainty? One approach is to develop sophisticated assessments of the potential of different technologies and then invest in a diverse portfolio, knowing many of their bets will fail. Or, they might create technology-neutral instruments, such as tax credits and reverse auctions, and allow private industry to try to pick winners. Engineering biology promises to contribute to a major step up in climate mitigation. Whether it lives up to this promise will depend on both the public and policymakers' support. Given just how high the stakes are, there's work for all of us to do in reckoning with this technology's potential. (The Conversation) SKS SCY SCY (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 02, 2025, 14:15 IST News agency-feeds Should we fight climate change by re-engineering life itself? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.


Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Ride of a lifetime': SpaceX delivers new crew to ISS in record-breaking 15 hours; station population hits 11
SpaceX successfully delivered a fresh crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, completing the journey from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in a record time of just 15 hours, reports AP. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Docking confirmed!" SpaceX announced on social media, sharing a video of the spacecraft making contact with the ISS at 2.27 am Eastern Time (11.57 am IST) on Saturday, high above the southeast Pacific Ocean. The arriving crew includes Nasa astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russia's Oleg Platonov. They are scheduled to spend at least six months aboard the orbiting lab, replacing the current occupants who have been there since March. SpaceX is set to bring back that outgoing crew as early as Wednesday. The incoming crew were all initially assigned to different missions. Cardman was pulled from a SpaceX flight last year to make room for NASA's Boeing Starliner test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, whose one-week mission stretched to over nine months. Fincke and Yui were preparing for a future Starliner mission, but with the spacecraft grounded until at least 2026 due to thruster and other system problems, they were reassigned to SpaceX. Platonov was previously removed from the Russian Soyuz launch schedule because of an undisclosed illness. 'I have no emotion but joy right now. That was absolutely transcendent. Ride of a lifetime,' said Cardman, the flight commander, after reaching orbit, reports AP. 'Every astronaut wants to be in space. None of us want to stay on the ground, but it's not about me,' Cardman said before her flight. To reduce costs, NASA is weighing the option of sending smaller crews, three astronauts instead of the usual four, on future SpaceX missions. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Regarding Starliner, Nasa is now considering a cargo-only flight for its next launch before resuming crewed missions. 'What we learn on these missions is what's going to get us to the moon and then from the moon to Mars, which is I think the direction that NASA has to be,' said Sean Duffy, Nasa's new acting administrator and the US secretary of transportation. During their mission, the Crew-11 astronauts will conduct simulations of moon-landing scenarios, specifically those that might occur near the lunar south pole as part of the Artemis program spearheaded by the US, reports AFP. The arrival of the incoming crew puts the population of the space station at 11 for the time being. Although the 15-hour journey was quick by US standards, Russia still holds the record for the fastest trip to the ISS, completing in just three hours.