Chennai, Jan 10: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to kick off its 2026 launch calendar on January 12 with the PSLV-C62 mission, deploying the EOS-N1 Earth Observation Satellite along with 14 co-passenger payloads.
The mission, executed by ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), includes satellites from both domestic and international customers. “The integration of the vehicle and satellites is complete, and pre-launch checks are underway. The PSLV-C62 mission is scheduled for lift-off at 10:17 hrs from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota,” ISRO said on Saturday. The 25-hour countdown will commence on January 11.
The primary payload, EOS-N1, has been jointly developed by Thailand and the United Kingdom. All 13 co-passenger satellites are expected to be deployed into a sun synchronous orbit around 17 minutes after lift-off.
A unique feature of this mission is the demonstration of the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule from a Spanish startup. The fourth stage of the rocket (PS4) will be re-ignited to place the KID capsule on a re-entry trajectory, with both the stage and capsule expected to splash down in the South Pacific Ocean more than two hours after launch.
PSLV has successfully completed 63 flights to date, including landmark missions like Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), and Aditya-L1.