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

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.

NASA and India plan to deploy a satellite that will map the Earth down to a centimeter after a launch on Wednesday from the Asian nation's southeastern coast.