Quick Facts

National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Indian Space Research Organisation Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)

• Length of spacecraft bus and radar instrument payload: about 18 feet (5.5 meters)
• Length of solar panels: two deployable arrays, each just over 18 feet (5.5 meters)
• Radar antenna reflector diameter: about 39 feet (12 meters)
• Boom length for radar antenna reflector: about 30 feet (9 meters)
• Satellite launch mass, including onboard propellant: about 5,250 pounds (2,380 kilograms)

L-band synthetic aperture radar system; S-band synthetic aperture radar system (SAR)

Two deployable motorized solar arrays totaling about 250 square feet (23 square meters) in area provide about 5 kilowatts of power; the satellite has a 180-amp-hour battery

• Sensors: star sensor; Sun sensor; sensors for inertia, velocity, and position
• Actuators: four reaction wheels; 11 11-newton and four 1-newton hydrazine thrusters; three magnetic torque rods
• Fuel: 103-gallon (390-liter) tank with 584 pounds (265 kilograms) of hydrazine propellant

• 2.88 Gbps Ka-band system: downlink tracking and engineering telemetry and science instrument data to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Ka-band ground station
• 4.0 Gbps Ka-band system: downlink to NASA ground stations
• S-band system will provide uplink of commands from the ground and downlink of some telemetry

Targeted for July 30, 2025

Updates from ISRO: isro.gov.in and x.com/isro

Updates from NASA: science.nasa.gov/blogs/nisar

Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India

ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

Three-year prime mission

NISAR will cover the land and ice surfaces of Earth between 77.5 degrees north latitude and 87.5 degrees south latitude twice every 12 days.

A collaboration between NASA and ISRO, NISAR marks the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission. NASA provided the mission’s L-band instrument, the radar antenna reflector, the deployable boom, and an engineering payload. Leading the U.S. component of the project is JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California. The S-band instrument, along with its data-processing algorithms, were developed at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre at Ahmedabad. The U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, which leads the ISRO component of the mission, has provided the spacecraft bus, and ISRO is also providing the launch vehicle, associated launch services, and satellite mission operations.

NASA investment for project formulation, development, and mission operations: $1.1589 billion

ISRO investment for development, launch operations, and mission operations: INR (₹) 7.88 billion