Key Points

Speaking to ANI, Dr Rosen highlighted the significance of the dual radar systems used in the mission and said, "NISAR mission is an amazing watershed mission with two powerful radar systems, one built by NASA, one built by ISRO that will map the earth every 12 days, two times from two different vantage points, giving us incredible detail on the motion of the Earth, the changes in the ecosystems and the changes in the cryosphere."

Highlighting the benefits, he added, "It's really the first of a kind mission, and because it's radar and it measures day, night and in all weather, it provides reliable data for the global community for all kinds of applications, from disaster management, agricultural crop health, forest management, as well as many scientific endeavours. It was such an incredible honour to be there at the launch."

Meanwhile, Sanghamitra Dutta, who was associated with the mission as the Program Executive from NASA, shared her remarks and said, "NISAR mission is historic because it's the first big art observing mission that two big space agencies are working on..."

She further added, "We have been working on this mission for more than 12 years now...Two sets of great minds, scientists and engineers from both NASA and ISRO, working together like 9 thousand miles apart, sitting there and making frequent trips and making long-distance teleconferences and then building it, designing, thinking, building it together so that exactly everything fits perfectly and all this time and that is the best part of this collaboration...The science data will be provided free of charge to anyone in the global community, and it is up to them to utilise the data for their specific needs or purposes..."

Earlier, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr V Narayanan on Thursday termed the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite as one of the most precise ever, following its successful injection into orbit using an indigenously developed Indian launcher.

Addressing the media in Kerala, on Mission NISAR Satellite, ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan said, "NASA was very excited to understand that India could successfully launch using the indigenously developed GSLV marked vehicle...It is one of the most precise launches that has ever happened in the world...The entire country today can be proud that a highly useful satellite built jointly by NASA and ISRO is placed in orbit using the Indian launcher..."

NISAR is a joint Earth observation satellite developed by ISRO and the US space agency NASA. It is designed to deliver highly detailed data on Earth's surface.

The satellite will scan the entire globe once every 12 days, capturing high-resolution images that can detect changes smaller than a centimetre. It is expected to support applications such as monitoring sea-level rise, natural disasters, soil moisture, and ecosystem dynamics.

"NISAR will enable the scientific community to detect the surface variations, sea height detection, investigate natural hazards, monitor soil moisture and many other applications. The potential from the satellite are huge and the global scientific community is eagerly awaiting for the satellite data for their respective research and usage," ISRO Chief added.

The implementation agreement for the joint Earth observation mission was signed between ISRO and NASA on September 30, 2014, by then ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan and then NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, during a ceremony in Toronto.

- ANI