NASA and India have paired up to launch an Earth-mapping satellite capable of tracking the slightest changes in land and ice. Scientists say the $1.3 billion mission will help forecasters and first responders stay one step ahead of floods, landslides and other disasters.

The US space agency NASA has launched a satellite into space in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) designed to measure changes on the Earth's surface at levels of precision previously unknown.