NASA C-130 Hercules Reaches ISRO With Key NISAR Component — All About The Satellite Set For 2025 Launch
NASA-ISRO Joint Mission: The NISAR satellite's radar antenna reflector has been delivered to ISRO for integration. This is the first hardware collaboration between ISRO and the US space agency.
NASA-ISRO Joint Project: NASA has successfully shipped the radar antenna reflector for the NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite to India, where it arrived at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) spacecraft integration and test facility in Bengaluru on Tuesday. This marks a significant step forward in the development of the joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and ISRO.
The NASA C-130 took off from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia On October 15, embarking on a multi-leg journey spanning several days. The aircraft traversed the United States from coast to coast, continue across the Pacific Ocean with scheduled stops on various islands, and ultimately reached its final destination in India. The mission was to securely transport NISAR’s radar antenna reflector, a key NASA contribution to the joint NISAR mission with ISRO, for integration onto the spacecraft.
NISAR, "a uniquely powerful and trailblazing satellite" according to NASA, is the first hardware collaboration between ISRO and the US space agency on a satellite mission to observe Earth.
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What Is NISAR?
NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory designed to help researchers understand changes to the Earth's surface such as ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, as well as forests, wetlands, and the planet's crust. It is to also monitor the vegetation biomass, ground water, and sea level rise, and provide critical data on natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity, aiding disaster response teams with detailed observations both before and after these events.
NASA NISAR Project Manager Phil Barela had earlier said the mission with a three-year duration aims to survey all land and ice-covered surfaces on Earth every 12 days, starting after a 90-day satellite commissioning period.
Dr Laurie Leshin, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director, had said the NISAR project was "better than anything that was flown in the past". "While there are datasets from past missions that can form sort of a baseline, this is a new level of capability that we will have with NISAR," she had said.
The radar is to provide spatially and temporally consistent data every 12 days after mapping the globe.
The satellite is said to be of the size of an SUV weighing around 2,800 kg, and two solar arrays will power it by providing around 4 kilowatts of power.
NASA had said the instruments onboard the satellite can see a minor change of even 1 centimetre.
Standing six feet tall, the 'spacecraft bus' will house the command and communication systems that manage the instrument payload, which includes two Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments — L-band SAR and S-band SAR. According to a 2023 NASA handout, "The bus will also provide structural support for the radar antenna reflector and its boom. It is equipped with sufficient fuel to sustain operations for a minimum of five years."
The Earth-observing #NISAR satellite is coming together 🌎
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) October 23, 2024
A key piece of the science hardware – its reflector – has arrived at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (@ISRO's) assembly and test facility, where it will prepare for launch in 2025. https://t.co/cICMcDQ8Ji pic.twitter.com/orWqK9WYxL
The antenna reflector that has now reached India is a key NASA contribution to the mission. It measures 39 feet (12 m) across and plays a crucial role in focusing microwave signals sent between the satellite and Earth’s surface, according to NASA. This drum-shaped device enables NISAR to scan nearly all of the planet’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, delivering valuable data at an unprecedented speed and scale.
Before its shipment to India, NASA said, the reflector underwent meticulous preparations at a specialised facility in California, where engineers applied reflective tape and took steps to prevent temperature increases that could interfere with its deployment once in space.
Once the reflector is integrated with the NISAR spacecraft, the satellite will undergo further testing ahead of its scheduled launch in early 2025 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the southeastern coast. NASA and ISRO are working to finalise an official launch date.
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