Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday began a 22.5-hour countdown for the launch of its PSLV-C62 rocket, marking the country’s first space mission of the year. The launch will place an Earth Observation Satellite along with 14 co-passenger satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit.
The mission is being undertaken by NewSpace India Ltd, ISRO’s commercial arm, with the co-passenger satellites belonging to both Indian and international customers. ISRO said the lift-off has been slightly rescheduled and will now take place at 10.18 am on January 12, instead of the earlier announced time of 10.17 am. The PSLV-C62 rocket has a lift-off mass of about 260 tonnes.
Confirming the development, ISRO sources said the countdown commenced at 12.48 pm on Sunday and will continue for 22 hours and 30 minutes leading up to the launch.
Under the PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 mission, the rocket will first deploy the primary Earth Observation Satellite developed jointly by Thailand and the United Kingdom. This will be followed by the sequential separation of 13 additional co-passenger satellites, all of which are expected to be placed into orbit around 17 minutes after lift-off.
More than two hours after launch, ISRO scientists plan to demonstrate advanced post-mission capabilities by restarting the rocket’s fourth stage, known as PS4. This maneuver will enable the demonstration of the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator capsule, or KID, developed by a Spanish startup. The capsule weighs around 25 kilograms.
ISRO said the fourth stage will be re-ignited to de-boost the system and place it on a re-entry trajectory, after which the KID capsule will separate. Both the PS4 stage and the capsule will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and are expected to splash down in the South Pacific Ocean.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has completed 63 missions so far and has played a crucial role in several landmark projects, including Chandrayaan-1, the Mars Orbiter Mission and the Aditya-L1 solar mission.
The last PSLV launch took place on May 18, 2025, when the PSLV-C61 mission carrying the Earth Observation Satellite-09 was attempted. That mission could not be completed due to an observation in the rocket’s third stage.
