Long-delayed ISRO-NASA mission NISAR may finally be launched in June

Narayanan informed the minister that the NISAR satellite, which has faced problems during the assembly stage, will be launched on a GSLV rocket sometime in June. The exact date has not yet been announced.

NISAR is meant to make extremely granular observations of the Earth at regular intervals. The satellite is powerful enough to capture changes as small as one centimetre in size during its repeated observations over the same terrain. It will therefore be able to study the dynamic processes happening on Earth’s surface, like retreat of glaciers, changes in vegetation and forest cover, and even the movements during earthquakes and volcanoes. Scientists expect this satellite to provide new insights into our understanding of processes like climate change or natural hazards.

NISAR was originally scheduled to be launched in the first half of last year. The satellite had been assembled largely in the US, with some parts, including one of the two radars, having been sent from India. It arrived in Bengaluru in 2023 for final testing before being launched.

However, during the testing process, one of the key components, a 12-metre antenna, was found to be in need of improvement. The satellite had to be shipped back to the US last year for upgrades.

NISAR has been on ISRO’s calendar this year but a launch window was not specified.

Narayanan also informed the minister about the Axiom-4 mission of a private US-based company in which India’s Shubhanshu Shukla is travelling to the International Space Station.

Shukla would become just the second Indian to go into space, 40 years after Rakesh Sharma made the journey on a Russian spacecraft. The Axiom-4 mission is scheduled for launch in May, Narayanan informed the minister.

Before NISAR, ISRO has lined up two other crucial missions in May. One of them is the launch of the earth observation satellite EOS-09, which will capture high resolution images during day as well as night. The other is the launch of the test vehicle D2 (TV-D2) mission of the Gaganyaan programme. TV-D2 is designed to simulate the abort scenario of the Crew Escape System on Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight mission.