NISAR Satellite:
The US Air Force handed over NISAR, an earth observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO, to the Indian space agency.
- NISAR will be used by ISRO for a variety of purposes like volcanic eruptions, agricultural mapping, landslide-prone areas etc.
- The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
- While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft.
- Another important component of the satellite is its large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector.
- Made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus “the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure”
