Built on opposite sides of the planet, the NISAR satellite will deepen our understanding of climate change, deforestation, glacier melt, volcanoes, earthquakes, and more.

Two major components of the NISAR satellite have been combined to create a single spacecraft in Bengaluru, India.

The concept of gathering some of the unlimited sunlight available in space, then transmitting it down to users, was first developed to serve the clean energy needs of planet Earth. But Space-Based Solar Power can also work for the moon.

As part of ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform Campaign on 'Clean Energy—New Ideas for Solar Power from Space', a study undertaken by Switzerland's Astrostrom company designed a Greater Earth Lunar Power Station, or GE⊕-LPS for short.

The study envisages a solar powersatellite constructed mainly from lunar resources (including moon-manufactured solar cells) that could deliver megawatts of microwave power down to receivers on the lunar surface, serving the needs of surface activities, including future crewed bases.

Taking inspiration from a butterfly, GE⊕-LPS feature V-shaped solar panels with integrated antennas, deployed in a helix configuration extending more than a square kilometer end to end. The design would yield continuous 23 megawatts of energy for lunar surface operations. The solar panels themselves are based on iron pyrite monograin-layer solar cells produced on the moon.

Located at an Earth-moon Lagrange point around 61 350 km from the lunar surface, the station itself would also be inhabited.

India launched a rocket on Friday carrying an unmanned spacecraft to land on the Moon, its second attempt to do so as its cut-price space program seeks to reach new heights.

The heavyweight LVM3-M4 rocket lifted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh carrying the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, as thousands of enthusiasts clapped and cheered.

"Chandrayaan-3... has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the spacecraft is normal," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Twitter.

The world's most populous nation has a comparatively low-budget aerospace program that is rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global space powers.

Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface.

India's last attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago, when ground control lost contact moments before landing.