Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday carried out its first space mission of 2026 with the launch of the PSLV-C62 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) at Sriharikota. The rocket lifted off at 10:18 am from Launch Pad-1, carrying the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-N1 as its primary payload, along with 15 small satellites belonging to Indian and international customers.
PSLV-C62, the 64th flight of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the PSLV-DL variant, was intended to place the 1,485-kg EOS-N1 satellite into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of about 505–506 km. The satellite, developed for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and named “Anveshan,” is designed to support applications in defence, agriculture, and environmental monitoring using advanced hyperspectral imaging technology.
The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated.
— ISRO (@isro) January 12, 2026
In addition to EOS-N1, the mission included 15 small satellites from countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Thailand, Nepal, Mauritius, Luxembourg, the UAE, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. As part of an experimental objective, ISRO also planned a fourth-stage restart to test the KID (Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator), a 25-kg re-entry technology demonstrator developed by a Spanish startup, Orbital Paradigm.
However, ISRO confirmed that a technical anomaly was observed after the third stage of the launch. ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said the mission progressed normally up to that point, following which an issue arose during the subsequent phase. He added that the exact cause of the anomaly is under detailed analysis.
The PSLV is considered ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle, having successfully executed major missions such as Chandrayaan-1, the Mars Orbiter Mission, and Aditya-L1, and holding the world record for deploying 104 satellites in a single mission in 2017. The PSLV-C62 mission was of particular significance as it followed the failure of the PSLV-C61 mission in May last year and marked ISRO’s first launch of the new year.
ISRO is expected to provide further updates once the technical assessment of the mission is completed.