Space NISAR Mission ▪ The NISAR Mission is expected to be launched in June 2025 onboard a GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle). About the NISAR Mission ▪ NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a joint Earth observation satellite mission developed by NASA and ISRO under a bilateral agreement signed in 2014. ▪ The satellite is scheduled for launch in June 2025 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh, aboard ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk II). ▪ It marks the first-ever collaboration of its kind between India and the United States in radarbased Earth monitoring from space. ▪ NISAR aims to map the entire Earth’s surface every 12 days, enabling high-frequency, precise, and repeat observations. ▪ It will monitor ecosystem changes, ice sheet dynamics, vegetation patterns, sea level rise, and groundwater variation, and will track natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and landslides. Aryabhata ▪ 50 Years Since the Launch of Aryabhata – India’s First Satellite ▪ Aryabhata was India’s first indigenously-built satellite, named after the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata, who lived in the 5th century CE. ▪ It was launched on April 19, 1975, from Kapustin Yar, a Soviet launch site, with the help of the Soviet Union. ▪ By launching Aryabhata, India joined an elite club of 11 countries capable of sending satellites into orbit, including the USA, USSR, UK, France, China, West Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Italy. ▪ Aryabhata was designed to conduct experiments in solar physics and X-ray astronomy. ▪ Aryabhata eventually re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on February 10, 1992, giving it an orbital lifespan of nearly 17 years.
