New Delhi: ISRO is launching the PSLV-C62 mission on 12 January at 10:17 hours IST from the First Launch Pad at India’s spaceport in Sriharikota. The primary payload on board is the is the EOS-N1 satellite dubbed ‘Anvesha‘, a hyperspectral Earth imaging satellite for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This satellite has strategic applications, and images the Earth in many more colours than the three or four used by conventional consumer cameras. This allows the identification of materials based on their spectral signatures, and can spot camouflaged vehicles or buildings, which is useful for monitoring the border areas. The launch will make a trinitiy of strategic satellites by the DRDO operational, with Anvesha joining Kautilya and Sindu-Netra in orbit.
On board are a pair of academic satellites built by university students, CGUSAT and DSUSAT. Then the LACHIT and Thybolt-3 satellites feature store-and-forward functionality for use by the amateur radio operators comunity. Laxman Gyanpith is dispatching the Sanskarsat academic satellite. Satellite servicing startup OrbitAid is demonstrating its Standard Interface for Docking and Refueling Port (SIDRP) port, with an internal transfer of fuel, power and data on board the AyulSat. EON Space Labs will be demonstrating its MIRA space telescope on board a satellite infused with AI with satellite partner TakeMe2Space. This mission will demonstrate AI processing on board the satellite itself.
International Payloads on PSLV-C62 mission
Eight of the sixteen payloads are from foreign countries. UK and Thailand are launching the Theos-2 Earth Observation Satellite. Nepal’s Antharkshya Pratishtan is partnering with the Ministry of External Affairs to launch the Munal academic satellite. There are five payloads on board by AlltoSpace, a Brazil-based New Space startup focusing on educational satellites and capacity building. These are Edusat, Uaisat, Galaxy Explorer, Orbital Temple and Aldebaran-1. Aldebaran-1 is aimed at marine rescue operations, while Orbital Temple is a unique art project in which anyone in the world can participate, and send up names of those they wish to remember to the satellite.
ISRO does not have a POEM platform on this flight, and the upper stage will return to the Earth, along with the last payload to be deployed on the flight, the Kestrel Initial Demonstrator cargo capsule for the Spanish New Space Startup Orbital Paradigm. The idea here is to complete the logistics cycle for space and return hardware and experiments back to the Earth after flying them to Earth orbit. Orbital Paradigm will not be attempting to recover the initial technology demonstrator, but will be collecting data during the reentry. On board the first demonstration cargo capsule itself are payloads from France, UK and Germany, who are potential customers of the Cargo Capsule once it becomes operational.