Earth observation satellite – Artifex.News

NISAR mission enters critical 90-day commissioning phase

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 06:50:00 +0000

ISRO’s launch vehicle GSLV-F16 carrying the NISAR earth observation satellite lifts off from the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The historic NISAR mission, a landmark collaboration between NASA and ISRO, has entered its crucial 90-day commissioning phase, during which scientists will carry out rigorous checks, calibrations and orbital adjustments to prepare the satellite for full-scale earth observation.

The critical phase follows the successful launch of the radar imaging satellite on July 30 aboard a GSLV-F16 rocket from Srikharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to PTI, Gerald W Bawden, Program Manager for Natural Hazards Research at NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, outlined the key activities underway.

“NISAR is inserted at an altitude of 737 km and we need to actually rise up to 747 km and it will take about 45-50 days for those operations to take place,” he explained.

After the commissioning is complete, he said the radars will be activated and it will start collecting data over “all ice, all land, all the time” from the Earth.

“The resolution will be 5 metres by 5 metres and we will be imaging that every 12 days. So it is a lot of data. It is more data that NASA has collected in any other mission.” On the key lessons from the collaboration with the Bengaluru-based space agency for the NISAR mission, the scientist said, NASA learned from the ISRO’s focus on how science can help society, while ISRO gained from NASA’s deep focus on scientific research.

Bawden said the project brought together scientists from two countries on opposite sides of the world, with a 12.5-hour time difference.

“… we had culture differences and the other thing is that we are on the opposite side of the world. We have to work together and we have the common love for technology.”

“The two scientists (of ISRO and NASA) are building partnerships by working together, friendships. This NISAR partnership is more than building an amazing satellite, it is teams that are together to solve bigger problems,” he noted.

Responding to a query on the opportunities the collaboration with ISRO offers for NASA, NASA Earth Sciences Division Program Executive Sanghamitra B Dutta said, “This is the first large earth observing misison that India and the United States have put together. India is also working on this human space flight. So there are collaborations between the US and India on this over the last 4-5 years.”

“An Indian astronaut (Subhanshu Shukla) recently went to the International Space Station that has also been built as part of a collaboration between the US and India. We are enormously proud to work with each other and it will come in future in the commercial area, space collaboration and technology development, science area,” she said.

Regarding the mission’s dual-band radar, Dutta said radar missions have happened in the past.

“But simultaneous observation (of the Earth) in two different frequencies by two different radars flying together did not happen before. Scientists need not confine to the boundary of a country and they always discuss possibilities of new missions and bigger and better science,” she said.

During discussions, Dutta said scientists from ISRO and NASA came up with the idea to fly two Radars at once, using two different frequencies to collect more data in different technical ways.

“The idea was first discussed between Space Applications Centre, ISRO Ahmedabad and scientists from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. They discussed, brainstormed and came up with the idea of two radars working simultaneously.” Supporting Dutta’s statement, Bawden said there are major benefits of having two frequencies.

“We have technology challenge, and at the end of the day, we are building the technology to address scientific questions and NASA has the long L Band while ISRO has S band. It is fantastic to study agriculture like how corn grows, soya beans grow.”

Published – August 01, 2025 12:20 pm IST

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ISRO Successfully Places Earth Observation Satellite Into Orbit

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 03:58:27 +0000

The objectives of the mission include designing and developing a microsatellite

Sriharikota:

ISRO today successfully placed an Earth observation and SR-O DEMOSAT satellites into intended orbit. The space agency launched its third and final developmental flight, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-D3, carrying Earth Observation Satellite EOS-08.

The rocket lifted off majestically from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, situated about 135 km east of Chennai at a pre-fixed time of 9.17 am.

The objectives of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission include designing and developing a microsatellite and creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said.

Built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus, EOS-08 carries three payloads–Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R) and SiC UV Dosimeter.

The EOIR payload is designed to capture images in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) and Long-Wave IR (LWIR) bands, both during the day and night, for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring.

The GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture assessment, cryosphere studies over the Himalayan region, flood detection, and inland waterbody detection.

The SiC UV Dosimeter monitors UV irradiance at the viewport of the Crew Module in the Gaganyaan Mission and serves as a high-dose alarm sensor for gamma radiation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Countdown Begins For ISRO’s Earth Observation Satellite SSLV-D3-EOS-08 Mission

admin — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 23:10:31 +0000

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year.

Sriharikota:

The countdown for the launch of an earth observation satellite, onboard the third and final development flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-03 commenced on Friday, ISRO said.

The SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission follows the second successful launch of the second test flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D2-EOS-07) in February 2023.

Today’s mission is the third for the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency in 2024, after the successful PSLV-C58/XpoSat in January and GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS missions in February.

In an update on Friday, ISRO said, “SSLV-D3-EOS-08 Mission — Six-and-a-half-hour countdown leading to the launch commenced at 02.47 hrs IST”.

The smallest SSLV rocket, which measures about 34 metre in height, was planned to be launched on August 15 at 9.17 am and was later rescheduled to August 16, at 9.19 am from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre here.

The primary objectives of the SSLV-D3-EOS-08 mission include designing and developing a microsatellite, creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus, and incorporating new technologies required for future operational satellites, ISRO said.

With today’s mission, ISRO completes the developmental flight of the smallest rocket which can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg and can place them into Low Earth Orbit (of up to 500 km above Earth).

The mission would also give a boost to NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO to take up commercial launches using such Small Satellite Launch Vehicles with the industry.

Built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus, the Earth Observation Satellite carries three payloads: Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R), and SiC UV Dosimeter.

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year. It has a mass of approximately 175.5 kg and generates power of around 420 W. The satellite interfaces with the SSLV-D3/IBL-358 launch vehicle, ISRO said.

The first payload EOIR is designed to capture images in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) and Long-Wave IR (LWIR) bands, both during the day and night, for applications such as satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, volcanic activity observation, and industrial and power plant disaster monitoring.

The second GNSS-R payload demonstrates the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing for applications such as ocean surface wind analysis, soil moisture assessment, cryosphere studies over the Himalayan region, flood detection, and inland waterbody detection.

The third payload — SiC UV Dosimeter monitors UV irradiance at the viewport of the Crew Module in the Gaganyaan Mission and serves as a high-dose alarm sensor for gamma radiation. PTI VIJ BHJ BHJ

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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