NASA, ISRO Earth Satellite Mission Set to Launch July 30
The NISAR satellite was encapsulated in its payload fairing at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 18 in preparation for launch on the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle on July 30. The fairing protects the satellite during launch. After the rocket escapes the Earth’s atmosphere, it splits into two halves that are fall back to Earth.Credit: ISRO NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation have set the launch readiness date for the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission for no earlier than Wednesday, July 30. The Earth-observing satellite, which will be the first to carry L- and S-band radars, is set to lift off aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on India’s southeastern coast. Earlier this year, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi hailed NISAR is a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S. – India civil space cooperation. NISAR will scan nearly all of...