ISRO’s GSLV‑F16 Readies Launch Of NASA‑ISRO Earth‑Observation Radar Satellite NISAR

ISRO is set to launch NISAR, the pioneering joint NASA‑ISRO radar satellite, aboard its GSLV‑F16 rocket from Sriharikota on July 30 at 17:40 IST. NISAR weighs around 2,392 kg and will enter a sun-synchronous orbit at 743 km, scanning Earth every 12 days using dual-frequency radar (L‑band + S‑band) for high-resolution, day‑night, all‑weather imaging across a 242 km swath. After a 90‑day commissioning phase, it will begin delivering free global data for climate science, disaster response, and mapping surface motion, glaciers, vegetation, floods, earthquakes, and more.