Agriculture in space? Narendra Das, an associate professor of biosystems engineering in MSU’s College of Engineering, helped build a new tool for space that farms on Earth will benefit from, too.
When the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission launched July 30, 2025, it carried MSU-developed technology that can map soil moisture from space at a fine scale (about 100–200 meters).
That means farmers in Michigan, across the U.S. and around the world will be able to get up-to-date information on fields — even under clouds or at night — to help them decide when to plant, irrigate or harvest.
The data could improve crop yields, boost food security and even help monitor drought or wildfire risk. MSU’s contribution puts farmer-friendly Earth science on the global radar.
This news story is part of a larger article, MSU Year in Review 2025, written by Kim Ward, Jack Harrison, and Deon Foster of MSUToday.
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