NASA and India have paired up to launch an Earth-mapping satellite capable of tracking the slightest changes in land and ice

NASA announced Wednesday it, in a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organization, has launched a radar system to map Earth as never before.

The $1.5 billion synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, a joint project between NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, successfully launched into orbit on Wednesday aboard that nation's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, a medium-lift rocket.