The NISAR spacecraft will accommodate two fully capable synthetic aperture radar instruments (24 cm wavelength L-SAR and 10 cm wavelength S-SAR), each designed as array-fed reflectors to work as SweepSAR scan-on-receive wide swath mapping systems. The spacecraft will launch on an ISRO GSLV-II launch vehicle into a polar sun-synchronous dawn dusk orbit.

NASA contributions include the L-band SAR instrument, including the 12-m diameter deployable mesh reflector and 9-m deployable boom and the entire octagonal instrument structure. In addition, NASA is providing a high capacity solid-state recorder (approximately 9 Tbits at end of life), GPS, 3.5 Gbps Ka-band telecom system, and an engineering payload to coordinatecommand and data handling with the ISRO spacecraft control systems. ISRO is providing the spacecraft and launch vehicle, as well as the S-band SAR electronics to be mounted on the instrument structure.

The NISAR system comprises a dual frequency, fully polarimetric radar, with an imaging swath greater than 150 miles (240 km). This design permits complete global coverage every 12-days, allowing researchers to create time-series interferometric imagery and systematically map the changing surface of Earth. The satellite will be three-axis stabilized, that is, using reaction wheels that rotate to keep it correctly oriented to Earth and Sun. It will be launched into a polar Sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit (crossing the poles, trailing Earth's shadow to remain in a perpetual sunrise or sunset).

After a 90-day commissioning period, the mission will conduct a minimum of three full years of science operations with the L-band radar to satisfy NASA’s requirements, while ISRO requires five years of operations with the S-band radar. If the system does not use all its fuel reserves during the mission, operations may be extended further for either radar instrument.