NISAR will provide scientists with valuable data as it monitors ice-sheet changes, sea-level rises, ecosystems shifts and more. According to NASA, the satellite will scan forests and wetlands and study both human-driven and natural changes to these environments.

Unlike optical sensors, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at the heart of the Nisar mission doesn’t rely on visible light. SAR uses microwaves, allo

After integration, IRIS was shipped to India for integration into the NISAR satellite at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru. URSC finished NISAR before ISRO moved the satellite to the launch site, and the payload arrived at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on June 12.