Bengaluru: V Narayanan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), offered prayers at the Tirupati Temple on Saturday. This came ahead of the crucial launch of the PSLV-C62 which will deploy the EOS-N1, also called as Anvesh, manufactured by Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in space.
The launch of the satellite is slated for Monday (January 12, 2026) from the first launchpad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. This will be the first satellite launch in this year.
With this launch ISRO aims to make a comeback of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) after the previous setback with PSLV-C-61 in May 2025 due to a technical glitch in the third stage launch due to changes in the chamber pressure during its firing.
The DRDO’s Earth observation Satellite has been designed for strategic defence purposes and civilian activities like agriculture, urban areas mapping and environmental assessment.
The PSLV-C62 will be the 64th flight of the PSLV and the fifth mission of the PSLV-DL variant. The satellite has a lift off mass of 260 tonnes and stands 44.4 metres tall. The DRDO satellite will be placed at an altitude of 505.291Km, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The mission will also include 15 co-passenger satellites from commercial and international space agencies. The PSLV-C62 mission will also demonstrate Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) from a Spanish startup, which is a small-scale prototype of a re-entry vehicle being developed by it.
The KID will be the last co-passenger to be injected, after which it is slated to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere towards splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean.
ISRO has said that the EOS-N1 and 14 co-passenger satellites will be injected into a Sun Synchronous Orbit and the KID Capsule into a re-entry trajectory. After injection of EOS-N1 and 14 satellites, fourth stage will be re-started to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory, followed by KID Capsule separation.
Both PS4 stage and KID capsule will re-enter into Earth’s atmosphere and impact will be in the South Pacific Ocean, a release from ISRO added.
