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An artist’s illustration of the NISAR satellite above Earth at night. The satellite has a large round, shaded screen at the top that extends out farther than the main body. This is attached to a silver metal pole that is then attached to the gold-colored main body. This main instrument has a cube that has two wings made of silver squared solar panels. The other part of the instrument is an extended trapezoid where the top is a long rectangle with white and the side has three white squares. The other sides of the instrument are not shown.

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Mission: NISAR

An artist’s illustration of the NISAR satellite above Earth at night. The satellite has a large round, shaded screen at the top that extends out farther than the main body. This is attached to a silver metal pole that is then attached to the gold-colored main body. This main instrument has a cube that has two wings made of silver squared solar panels. The other part of the instrument is an extended trapezoid where the top is a long rectangle with white and the side has three white squares. The other sides of the instrument are not shown.

NASA

When did NISAR launch?

July 30, 2025

Where is NISAR?

464 miles (747 km) from Earth

What does NISAR do?

NISAR, the short name for the NASA-ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Synthetic Aperture Radar mission, uses radar to see through the clouds to learn about the planet. It measures all of the world’s land and ice twice every 12 days. It studies natural hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides. NISAR also tracks the motion of ice caps, glaciers and sea ice. It can also detect changes in ecosystems and monitor groundwater and soil moisture.

Learn more about NISAR.

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