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By NASA
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 a.m. IST), July 30, 2025.Credit: ISRO Carrying an advanced radar system that will produce a dynamic, three-dimensional view of Earth in unprecedented detail, the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite has launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Jointly developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and a critical part of the United States – India civil-space cooperation highlighted by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi earlier this year, the satellite can detect the movement of land and ice surfaces down to the centimeter. The mission will help protect communities by providing unique, actionable information to decision-makers in a diverse range of areas, including disaster response, infrastructure monitoring, and agricultural management.
The satellite lifted off aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:10 p.m. IST), Wednesday, July 30. The ISRO ground controllers began communicating with NISAR about 20 minutes after launch, at just after 8:29 a.m. EDT, and confirmed it is operating as expected.
“Congratulations to the entire NISAR mission team on a successful launch that spanned across multiple time zones and continents in the first-ever partnership between NASA and ISRO on a mission of this sheer magnitude,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Where moments are most critical, NISAR’s data will help ensure the health and safety of those impacted on Earth, as well as the infrastructure that supports them, for the benefit of all.”
From 464 miles (747 kilometers) above Earth, NISAR will use two advanced radar instruments to track changes in Earth’s forests and wetland ecosystems, monitor deformation and motion of the planet’s frozen surfaces, and detect the movement of Earth’s crust down to fractions of an inch — a key measurement in understanding how the land surface moves before, during, and after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.
“ISRO’s GSLV has precisely injected NISAR satellite into the intended orbit, 747 kilometers. I am happy to inform that this is GSLV’s first mission to Sun-synchronous polar orbit. With this successful launch, we are at the threshold of fulfilling the immense scientific potential NASA and ISRO envisioned for the NISAR mission more than 10 years ago,” said ISRO Chairman V Narayanan. “The powerful capability of this radar mission will help us study Earth’s dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before.”
The mission’s two radars will monitor nearly all the planet’s land- and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days, including areas of the polar Southern Hemisphere rarely covered by other Earth-observing radar satellites. The data NISAR collects also can help researchers assess how forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and permafrost change over time.
“Observations from NISAR will provide new knowledge and tangible benefits for communities both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science division at NASA Headquarters. “This launch marks the beginning of a new way of seeing the surface of our planet so that we can understand and foresee natural disasters and other changes in our Earth system that affect lives and property.”
The NISAR satellite is the first free-flying space mission to feature two radar instruments — an L-band system and an S-band system. Each system is sensitive to features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes. The L-band radar excels at measuring soil moisture, forest biomass, and motion of land and ice surfaces, while S-band radar excels at monitoring agriculture, grassland ecosystems, and infrastructure movement.
Together, the radar instruments will enhance all of the satellite’s observations, making NISAR more capable than previous synthetic aperture radar missions. Unlike optical sensors, NISAR will be able to “see” through clouds, making it possible to monitor the surface during storms, as well as in darkness and light.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provided the L-band radar, and ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad developed the S-band radar. The NISAR mission marks the first time the two agencies have co-developed hardware for an Earth-observing mission.
“We’re proud of the international team behind this remarkable satellite. The mission’s measurements will be global but its applications deeply local, as people everywhere will use its data to plan for a resilient future,” said Dave Gallagher, director, NASA JPL, which manages the U.S. portion of the mission for NASA. “At its core is synthetic aperture radar, a technology pioneered at NASA JPL that enables us to study Earth night and day, through all kinds of weather.”
Including L-band and S-band radars on one satellite is an evolution in SAR airborne and space-based missions that, for NASA, started in 1978 with the launch of Seasat. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India.
In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will begin a roughly 90-day commissioning phase during which it will deploy its 39-foot (12-meter) radar antenna reflector. This reflector will direct and receive microwave signals from the two radars. By interpreting the differences between the two, researchers can discern characteristics about the surface below. As NISAR passes over the same locations twice every 12 days, scientists can evaluate how those characteristics have changed over time to reveal new insights about Earth’s dynamic surfaces.
The NISAR mission is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO. Managed for the agency by Caltech, NASA JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and is providing the mission’s L-band SAR. NASA also is providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem.
Space Applications Centre Ahmedabad, ISRO’s lead center for payload development, is providing the mission’s S-band SAR instrument and is responsible for its calibration, data processing, and development of science algorithms to address the scientific goals of the mission. U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, which leads the ISRO components of the mission, is providing the spacecraft bus. The launch vehicle is from ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, launch services are through ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and satellite operations are by ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network. National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad is responsible for S-band data reception, operational products generation, and dissemination.
To learn more about NISAR, visit:
https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov
-end-
Karen Fox / Elizabeth Vlock
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 30, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Earth Science Earth Science Division Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is being prepared for a drop test by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test was completed June 26, 2025, at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, after being hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.NASA/Mark Knopp As the aviation industry works to design air taxis and other new electric aircraft, there’s a growing need to understand how the materials behave. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs to best protect passengers in the event of a crash.
On June 26, 2025, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, researchers dropped a full-scale aircraft body modeled after an air taxi from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry.
The NASA researchers behind this test and a previous one in late 2022 investigated materials that best absorb impact forces, generating data that will enable manufacturers to design safer advanced air mobility aircraft.
Image Credit: NASA/Mark Knopp
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has selected Barrios Technology, LLC, in Houston to provide technical integration services for the agency’s human space flight programs.
The Mission Technical Integration Contract is a cost-plus-award-fee and cost-plus-incentive fee contract with core and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity requirements. It has a total estimated value of approximately $450 million, and a period of performance beginning Oct. 1, and ending on Sept. 30, 2027, along with four one-year option periods through 2031.
Under the contract, the contractor will provide technical integration and related services for multiple human space flight programs. These services include program, business, configuration and data management, information technology, systems engineering and integration, mission integration, safety and mission assurance, and operations.
For information about the agency and its programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 28, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space Johnson Space Center View the full article
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is shown after a drop test at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test was completed June 26 at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, after being hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.NASA/Mark Knopp As the aviation industry works to develop new air taxis and other electric aircraft made from innovative, lightweight materials, there’s a growing need to understand how those materials behave under impact. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs that could best protect passengers in the event of a crash.
On June 26 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, researchers dropped a full-scale aircraft body modeled after an air taxi from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry.
The NASA researchers behind this test and a previous one in late 2022 investigated materials that best absorb impact forces, generating data that will enable manufacturers to design safer advanced air mobility aircraft.
“By showcasing elements of a crash alongside how added energy-absorbing technology could help make the aircraft more robust, these tests will help the development of safety regulations for advanced air mobility aircraft, leading to safer designs,” said Justin Littell, test lead, based at Langley.
An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, on June 26 at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.NASA/Mark Knopp During the June test, the aircraft was hoisted about 35 feet into the air and then released. It swung forward before crashing to the ground. The impact conditions were like the prior test in 2022, but with the addition of a 10-degree yaw, or twist, to the aircraft’s path. The yaw replicated a certification condition required by Federal Aviation Administration regulations for these kinds of aircraft.
After the drop, researchers began to evaluate how the structure and batteries withstood the impact. As expected, the material failures closely matched predictions from computer simulations, which were updated using data from the 2022 tests.
An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is being prepared for a drop test by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test was completed June 26 at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, after being hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.NASA/Mark Knopp An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is being prepared for a drop test by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test was completed June 26 at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, after being hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.
The aircraft included energy absorbing subfloors, similar to crumple zones in cars, which appeared to crush as intended to help protect the seats inside. The battery experiment involved adding mass to simulate underfloor battery components of air taxis to collect acceleration levels. Once analyzed, the team will share the data and insights with the public to enhance further research and development in this area.
Lessons learned from these tests will help the advanced air mobility industry evaluate the crashworthiness of aircraft designs before flying over communities.
The work is managed by the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program in support of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission, which seeks to deliver data to guide the industry’s development of electric air taxis and drones.
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Last Updated Jul 28, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whitingteresa.whiting@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
Armstrong Flight Research Center Advanced Air Mobility Advanced Air Vehicles Program Aeronautics Ames Research Center Drones & You Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Explore More
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Cloud cover can keep optical instruments on satellites from clearly capturing Earth’s surface. Still in testing, JPL’s Dynamic Targeting uses AI to avoid imaging clouds, yielding a higher proportion of usable data, and to focus on phenomena like this 2015 volcanic eruption in Indonesia Landsat 8 captured.NASA/USGS A technology called Dynamic Targeting could enable spacecraft to decide, autonomously and within seconds, where to best make science observations from orbit.
In a recent test, NASA showed how artificial intelligence-based technology could help orbiting spacecraft provide more targeted and valuable science data. The technology enabled an Earth-observing satellite for the first time to look ahead along its orbital path, rapidly process and analyze imagery with onboard AI, and determine where to point an instrument. The whole process took less than 90 seconds, without any human involvement.
Called Dynamic Targeting, the concept has been in development for more than a decade at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The first of a series of flight tests occurred aboard a commercial satellite in mid-July. The goal: to show the potential of Dynamic Targeting to enable orbiters to improve ground imaging by avoiding clouds and also to autonomously hunt for specific, short-lived phenomena like wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and rare storms.
This graphic shows how JPL’s Dynamic Targeting uses a lookahead sensor to see what’s on a satellite’s upcoming path. Onboard algorithms process the sensor’s data, identifying clouds to avoid and targets of interest for closer observation as the satellite passes overhead.NASA/JPL-Caltech “The idea is to make the spacecraft act more like a human: Instead of just seeing data, it’s thinking about what the data shows and how to respond,” says Steve Chien, a technical fellow in AI at JPL and principal investigator for the Dynamic Targeting project. “When a human sees a picture of trees burning, they understand it may indicate a forest fire, not just a collection of red and orange pixels. We’re trying to make the spacecraft have the ability to say, ‘That’s a fire,’ and then focus its sensors on the fire.”
Avoiding Clouds for Better Science
This first flight test for Dynamic Targeting wasn’t hunting specific phenomena like fires — that will come later. Instead, the point was avoiding an omnipresent phenomenon: clouds.
Most science instruments on orbiting spacecraft look down at whatever is beneath them. However, for Earth-observing satellites with optical sensors, clouds can get in the way as much as two-thirds of the time, blocking views of the surface. To overcome this, Dynamic Targeting looks 300 miles (500 kilometers) ahead and has the ability to distinguish between clouds and clear sky. If the scene is clear, the spacecraft images the surface when passing overhead. If it’s cloudy, the spacecraft cancels the imaging activity to save data storage for another target.
“If you can be smart about what you’re taking pictures of, then you only image the ground and skip the clouds. That way, you’re not storing, processing, and downloading all this imagery researchers really can’t use,” said Ben Smith of JPL, an associate with NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, which funds the Dynamic Targeting work. “This technology will help scientists get a much higher proportion of usable data.”
How Dynamic Targeting Works
The testing is taking place on CogniSAT-6, a briefcase-size CubeSat that launched in March 2024. The satellite — designed, built, and operated by Open Cosmos — hosts a payload designed and developed by Ubotica featuring a commercially available AI processor. While working with Ubotica in 2022, Chien’s team conducted tests aboard the International Space Station running algorithms similar to those in Dynamic Targeting on the same type of processor. The results showed the combination could work for space-based remote sensing.
Since CogniSAT-6 lacks an imager dedicated to looking ahead, the spacecraft tilts forward 40 to 50 degrees to point its optical sensor, a camera that sees both visible and near-infrared light. Once look-ahead imagery has been acquired, Dynamic Targeting’s advanced algorithm, trained to identify clouds, analyzes it. Based on that analysis, the Dynamic Targeting planning software determines where to point the sensor for cloud-free views. Meanwhile, the satellite tilts back toward nadir (looking directly below the spacecraft) and snaps the planned imagery, capturing only the ground.
This all takes place in 60 to 90 seconds, depending on the original look-ahead angle, as the spacecraft speeds in low Earth orbit at nearly 17,000 mph (7.5 kilometers per second).
What’s Next
With the cloud-avoidance capability now proven, the next test will be hunting for storms and severe weather — essentially targeting clouds instead of avoiding them. Another test will be to search for thermal anomalies like wildfires and volcanic eruptions. The JPL team developed unique algorithms for each application.
“This initial deployment of Dynamic Targeting is a hugely important step,” Chien said. “The end goal is operational use on a science mission, making for a very agile instrument taking novel measurements.”
There are multiple visions for how that could happen — possibly even on spacecraft exploring the solar system. In fact, Chien and his JPL colleagues drew some inspiration for their Dynamic Targeting work from another project they had also worked on: using data from ESA’s (the European Space Agency’s) Rosetta orbiter to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomously detecting and imaging plumes emitted by comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
On Earth, adapting Dynamic Targeting for use with radar could allow scientists to study dangerous extreme winter weather events called deep convective ice storms, which are too rare and short-lived to closely observe with existing technologies. Specialized algorithms would identify these dense storm formations with a satellite’s look-ahead instrument. Then a powerful, focused radar would pivot to keep the ice clouds in view, “staring” at them as the spacecraft speeds by overhead and gathers a bounty of data over six to eight minutes.
Some ideas involve using Dynamic Targeting on multiple spacecraft: The results of onboard image analysis from a leading satellite could be rapidly communicated to a trailing satellite, which could be tasked with targeting specific phenomena. The data could even be fed to a constellation of dozens of orbiting spacecraft. Chien is leading a test of that concept, called Federated Autonomous MEasurement, beginning later this year.
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Melissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
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Last Updated Jul 24, 2025 Related Terms
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