In Nisar collaboration, space explorations paths converge

The Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (Nisar) mission will lift off on Wednesday.

- Gaurav Seth is CEO and co-founder, PierSight, an Indian space tech startup, and Steffi Joseph works with Pier Sight. The views expressed are personal.

Atfirst glance, it's the world’s most expensive Earth observation satellite:a $15-billion mission, 2,800 kg observatory, carrying two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band), capable of detecting centimetre-level surface changes globally every 12 days. A technical marvel. And notably, its data will be freely available and open to the public.

But, Nisar is more than a satellite. It represents the quiet convergence of two space philosophies — one born from the urge to explore the planets, and the other grounded in the belief that space should serve people back home. Nisar is the first mission ofits kind: a dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite that can measure Earth's changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses. It will provide insights on biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other applications.