Overview

• NISAR was successfully placed into a 747 km orbit on July 30 and has entered a 90-day commissioning period to test its instruments
• The satellite carries two synthetic aperture radars—one developed by NASA and one by ISRO—to capture sub-centimeter shifts of land and ice twice every 12 days
• Commissioning activities will validate radar performance, data processing workflows and satellite controls ahead of full science operations
• During its three-year primary mission, NISAR will deliver high-resolution maps to enhance tracking of natural hazards, sea ice, glaciers and tectonic movements worldwide
• Although it cannot predict earthquakes directly, the mission will pinpoint regions most susceptible to severe seismic events and marks NASA’s first hardware collaboration with ISRO