ISRO's PSLV to launch 16 satellites; 22hr countdown starts

Indian Space agency ISRO has commenced a 22-hour countdown for its first launch mission of 2026, the 'PSLV-C62/EOS-N1'. The PSLV rocket, in its 64thflight is expected to liftoff from the first launchpad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 10:18am IST, Monday, (12thJan).

Thecountdownis a well-planned technical process during which the final health checks of various systems of the rocket and satellite are carried out, and the liquid-fuel stages of the rocket are tanked up.

This flight marks PSLV's return to flight after a rare setback during the previous launch in May 2025. In May 2025, the PSLV rocket suffered a mid-flight failure. The PSLV's third stage malfunction led to the loss of the rocket and the EOS-09 radar imaging satellite. The May 2025 flight marked the third major failure of the PSLV in its 63 flights across 32 years.

The primary satellite of this mission is the 'EOS-N1' or 'Anvesha', an Earth Observation satellite built by India's Defence Research Development Organization(DRDO). This satellite is to be placed 511kms above the Earth. 'EOS-N1' is Hyperspectral imaging satellite, which means it can see much more than the human eye or a conventional optical-imaging satellite. As the surface of the Earth gets illuminated, different materials(soil, water, metal, vegetation) reflect light, across various wavelengths. A hyperspectral sensor can capture these reflections and identify how an object appears and what it is made of.

This technology has immense civilian and strategic applications, as it can scan the Earth based on unique light signatures. In simple terms, it can identify different materials based on their unique fingerprint(spectral signature).

Water quality, soil composition, crop health, are among the environmental aspects that can be studied using this technology. Military targets under camouflage can also be detected, based on the reflection from the material. It can also be used for supporting mining and exploration.

In addition to 'EOS-N1', there will be 15 co-passenger satellites aboard the PSLV. Seven satellites are from India, while two of them are from Europe, five of them are from Brazil, and one from Nepal. Many of these satellites are from academia or startups, and are meant to demonstrate unique experiments in space.