A Flower-like satellite has “bloomed” in outer space, unfolding to reveal the largest radar antenna reflector ever put into orbit. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), a joint project between the US space agency and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), launched on July 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southeastern India, before unfurling to its full size 17 days later.

The spacecraft is now ready to make full-scale observations of the Earth, and will use radar to track changes on our planet’s surface in unprecedented resolution. It can record the movement of ice sheets and glaciers, crustal deformation caused by earthquakes and landslides, and changes in forest and wetland ecosystems, down to an accuracy of a few centimeters for certain types of terrain. T

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