After NISAR, India to Launch US BlueBird Satellite

After successfully launching NASA-ISRO’s $1.5B NISAR satellite, ISRO prepares to launch the advanced BlueBird communication satellite in Sept 2025, boosting global connectivity. Bluebird is a state-of-the-art communication satellite that can establish connectivity directly to mobile phones. It has a large communication array of 64.38 square meters, which will provide voice, data, and video services on 3G, 4G, and 5G networks as per 3GPP standards. Discover how this partnership is shaping the future of space tech.

New Delhi: India and the US have made another major cooperation in the space sector. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) recently successfully launched the world's most expensive earth observation satellite, called NISAR, on July 30, 2025. Now ISRO is working on another important mission. In September 2025, ISRO will launch an advanced communication satellite called America's Block-2 Bluebird. This satellite weighs 6,500 kg and will be sent into space from Sriharikota Spaceport through ISRO's most powerful rocket, LVM-3-M5.

Features of Bluebird Satellite

Bluebird is a state-of-the-art communication satellite that can establish connectivity directly to mobile phones. It has a large communication array of 64.38 square meters, which will provide voice, data, and video services on 3G, 4G, and 5G networks as per 3GPP standards. Its biggest feature is that it will deliver high-speed internet (up to 12 Mbps) directly to the smartphone without any additional terminal. It will work in collaboration with major telecom service providers around the world.

Historic collaboration of NASA and ISRO: NISAR satellite

NASA (the US space agency) and ISRO have jointly developed an advanced earth observation satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), which was successfully launched on July 30, 2025. It is the world's most expensive Earth observation satellite, costing around $1.5 billion (about Rs 12,500 crore).

Features of NISAR

• It uses dual radar systems (L-band and S-band), allowing it to perform highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the Earth's surface.
• It will survey the entire Earth every 12 days, helping in monitoring climate change, natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, and forest fires), glacier melting, and agriculture.
• The data obtained from NISAR will help scientists better understand the Earth's ecosystem.

India's Space Journey: A Brief History

ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan recently told a function at SRM Institute in Chennai that India's space program started in 1963 with a small rocket donated by the US. In 1975, with the help of US satellite data, ISRO installed TV sets in 2,400 villages in six states. Today India has made so much progress in space technology that it is walking shoulder to shoulder with developed countries.

The successful launch of NISAR on July 30, 2025, has given a new milestone to this journey. In this way, this cooperation between India and the US will not only open new possibilities in space science but will also provide advanced communication technology to the world.