Tech Desk: The Indo-French TRISHNA Satellite mission, a collaborative effort set to significantly advance Earth observation, is now in its final stages, with a launch anticipated within 12 to 16 months. This groundbreaking project marks the third joint satellite venture between India’s ISRO and France’s CNES, underscoring a decade of meticulous conceptualization and formalization now reaching fruition. TRISHNA is poised to revolutionize global water resource management and environmental monitoring, addressing some of the planet’s most pressing ecological challenges.

Designed to provide high-resolution data across visible, short-wave infrared, and thermal infrared wavelengths, the TRISHNA Satellite will offer unprecedented insights into Earth’s surface temperature, emissivity, radiation variables, and biophysical parameters. This crucial data will support critical initiatives, including tracking water stress, assessing agricultural health, monitoring vegetation changes, analyzing urban heat island effects, and understanding broader climate-related shifts. Its open-data policy further promises to empower scientists, researchers, and policymakers worldwide with accessible, vital information.

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will deploy the TRISHNA Satellite, continuing its proven track record in launching advanced Earth-observation spacecraft. The satellite will carry two principal payloads: the Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) instrument developed by CNES and the Visible-Near Infra-Red Short Wave Infra-Red (VNIR-SWIR) payload from ISRO. Once operational, this advanced mission is expected to deliver detailed thermal and optical observations, substantially strengthening global efforts in natural resource assessment, environmental protection, and sustainable water management across all scales, from regional to global.