India, US to launch joint space mission later this year: Centre

Stepping up cooperation in the space sector, India and the US are expected to launch a joint Earth observation project -- NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite -- later this year, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday.

He made the remarks during the visit of a US delegation led by Sethuraman Panchanathan, the director of the National Science Foundation.

The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission will measure the Earth's changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces and ice masses to provide information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise and groundwater and will support a host of other applications.

It will also observe the Earth's land- and ice-covered surfaces globally with 12-day regularity on ascending and descending passes, sampling the Earth on average every six days for a baseline three-year mission.

Also watch: ISRO says Joshimath sank 5.4 cm in 12 days, after 9 cm in 7 months | Uttarakhand land subsidence crisis

"The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite is expected to be launched in 2023," the minister told the delegation.

(PTI)