Isro-Nasa satellite Nisar takes flight

The Indian and US space agencies on Wednesday launched a powerful satellite that will keep a close eye on Earth and track even minuscule changes on its surface, arming scientists, researchers and disaster response teams with crucial data to help better forecast natural calamities.

- Snehal Fernandes

The Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, or Nisar, lifted off from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40pm, aboard the agency's GSLV-FI6 rocket, in collaboration with Nasa.

Roughly the size of a large SUV, Nisar was injected into orbit at 5.58pm. Over the next few days, the 2,393kg will begin to unfold itself, extending its 30-foot boom and opening the 39-foot diameter (12-meter) reflector, made of gold-plated wire mesh.

Science operations should begin by the end of October.