India Observers

  ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) are joining forces for a historic project: launching India’s first space station, scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. The joint venture includes the crucial  NISAR  (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, with a substantial cost of USD 1.5 billion, designed for Earth observation, focusing on ecosystems, land deformations, and environmental aspects. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, visiting India, met with Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh to discuss various aspects of space cooperation. They highlighted the potential for India to send an astronaut to the International Space Station by the end of next year. ISRO is also exploring the use of NASA’s facilities to test the Gaganyaan module’s protection shields. NISAR’s mission encompasses studying land ecosystems, solid earth deformations, cryospheres, sea ice, and coastal oceans. This collaboration ma...

 The US Air Force has brought the ISRO-NASA satellite ‘NISAR’ to Bengaluru. ISRO will launch this Indo-US space mission in early 2024, for various purposes. The eagerly anticipated NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, has arrived in India after being jointly developed by scientists from the US and India. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the massive scientific payload was being integrated. The satellite, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), arrived in Bengaluru from the US on a USAF C-17.  The final stage of the mission, which entails its integration into the spacecraft bus, has been set in motion by its arrival.  Before the satellite is authorized for launch from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Center in the first quarter of 2024, ISRO will now direct the mission’s final leg over the coming months. Two distinct radars make up the mega satellite. While American researchers created the long-range L-band radar, their India...