CHENNAI: ISRO will kick off its 2026 launch calendar on January 12 with the PSLV C62 mission to deploy the EOS-N1 earth observation satellite and 14 other payloads into space.
Undertaken by the NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, the 14 other co-passenger satellites belong to domestic and overseas customers.
"The integration of the vehicle and the satellites has been completed and pre-launch checks are in progress. The PSLV-C62 mission is proposed to lift-off on January 12 at 10.17 hrs, from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota," ISRO said on Saturday.
The primary payload - 'Earth Observation Satellite' built by Thailand and the United Kingdom, will fly piggyback along with 13 other co-passenger satellites, which would be deployed into the intended sun-synchronous orbit around 17 minutes after lift-off.
However, the separation of the fourth stage of the rocket (PS4) and demonstration of Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule belonging to a Spanish startup, is expected to take place in over 2 hours after the launch.
ISRO said scientists would restart the fourth stage of the rocket to demonstrate the KID capsule to make its re-entry into the earth atmosphere. For this to occur, the scientists would re-start the fourth stage to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory, and this will be followed by the KID capsule separation.
Both the PS4 stage and the KID capsule (which will be the last co-passenger) will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and make a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean, ISRO said.
PSLV has completed 63 flights so far, including the ambitious Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), and Aditya-L1 mission.