India and US launch 'first-of-its-kind' satellite

Indian and US space agencies have launched a new satellite which will keep a hawk's eye on Earth, detecting and reporting even the smallest changes in land, sea, and ice sheets.

Data from the joint mission by Indian Space agency Isro and Nasa will help not just the two countries but the world in preparing and dealing with disasters.

The 2,392kg Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (Nisar) was launched at 17:40 India time (12:10 GMT) on Wednesday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in south India.

The satellite comes close on the heels of the Axiom-4 mission which saw an Indian astronaut going to the International Space Station for the first time.

Nasa, which already has more than two dozen observation satellites in space, says Nisar is the "most sophisticated radar we've ever built" and that it will be able to spot the "minutest of changes anywhere in the world".

The "first-of-its-kind satellite" will be the first in space to watch Earth using two different radar frequencies - Nasa's L-band and Isro's S-band.

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