NASA and ISRO have jointly manufactured an earth science satellite ‘NISAR’

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh today informed the Rajya Sabha that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have jointly manufactured an earth science satellite named, NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the mission objectives of the satellite are- Design, Develop and launch Dual Frequency (L and S band) Radar Imaging Satellite and to Explore newer applications areas using L & S Band microwave data especially in surface deformation studies, terrestrial biomass structure, natural resource mapping and monitoring and studies related to dynamics of ice-sheets, glaciers, forests, oil slick etc.

The Minister said, the satellite is configured with I-3K bus and the instrument identified for SAR is based on the innovative Sweep SAR technique configured in both L and S band in polarimetric configuration for wide swath and high resolution.

The spacecraft will orbit the Earth in a sun synchronous orbit of 747 Km with an inclination of 98.4 degree for a 12-day repeat cycle.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, while NASA is delivering the L-Band SAR payload, high precision GPS and 12m unfurlable antenna, ISRO is delivering S-band SAR payload, spacecraft bus and facilitating launch. The total expenditure incurred on realization of NISAR satellite by ISRO as on February, 2023 is Rs. 469.40 Crore, excluding launch cost.