ISRO begins countdown for first launch of the year with PSLV mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday, January 11, commenced a 22.5-hour countdown for the launch of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket that will place an earth observation satellite and 14 other co-passenger satellites into orbit, marking the agency’s first launch of the year.The mission, undertaken by NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm, will carry satellites belonging to domestic and overseas customers. The lift-off of the PSLV-C62 rocket, with a lift-off mass of 260 tonnes, has been rescheduled to 10.18 hrs on January 12 from the earlier planned 10.17 am, ISRO said.“Yes. The countdown started at 12.48 pm. 22 hours 30 minutes duration. Launch is at 10.18 hrs tomorrow,” ISRO sources told PTI on Sunday.The PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 mission will first deploy the Earth Observation Satellite built by Thailand and the United Kingdom, followed by 13 other co-passenger satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit around 17 minutes after lift-off.Also Read: ISRO set for first 2026 launch with PSLV C62 mission: All about itSubsequently, the separation of the rocket’s fourth stage (PS4) and the demonstration of the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule, weighing about 25 kg and belonging to a Spanish startup, is expected to take place more than two hours after launch.According to ISRO, scientists will restart the fourth stage of the rocket to demonstrate the KID capsule’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. For this, the PS4 stage will be restarted to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory, following which the KID capsule will separate.Both the PS4 stage and the KID capsule, the last co-passenger on the mission, will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and make a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean, ISRO said.
Also Read: ISRO to triple spacecraft output, launch Chandrayaan-4 in 2028: ChairmanThe PSLV has completed 63 flights so far, including missions such as Chandrayaan-1, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), and Aditya-L1.The previous PSLV launch, the PSLV-C61 Earth Observation Satellite-09 mission on May 18, 2025, could not be accomplished due to an “observation” in the third stage of the rocket.

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