ISRO set to launch Earth Observation Satellite on Jan 12
Chennai (PTI): ISRO will kick off its 2026 launch calendar on January 12 with the PSLV C62 mission to deploy the EOS-N1 earth observation satellite and 14 other payloads into space.
Undertaken by the NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, the 14 other co-passenger satellites belong to domestic and overseas customers.
"The integration of the vehicle and the satellites has been completed and pre-launch checks are in progress. The PSLV-C62 mission is proposed to lift-off on January 12 at 10.17 hrs, from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota," ISRO said on Saturday.
The 25-hour countdown is scheduled to commence on January 11, for the mission which would be the 64th flight of PSLV.
The Earth Observation Satellite has been built jointly by Thailand and the United Kingdom, ISRO said.
The entire mission is expected to be more than two hours after lift off at 10.17 am on January 12.
The primary payload - 'Earth Observation Satellite' built by Thailand and the United Kingdom, will fly piggyback along with 13 other co-passenger satellites, which would be deployed into the intended sun-synchronous orbit around 17 minutes after lift-off.
However, the separation of the fourth stage of the rocket (PS4) and demonstration of Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule belonging to a Spanish startup, is expected to take place in over 2 hours after the launch.
ISRO said scientists would restart the fourth stage of the rocket to demonstrate the KID capsule to make its re-entry into the earth atmosphere. For this to occur, the scientists would re-start the fourth stage to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory, and this will be followed by the KID capsule separation.
Both the PS4 stage and the KID capsule (which will be the last co-passenger) will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and make a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean, ISRO said.
PSLV has completed 63 flights so far, including the ambitious Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), and Aditya-L1 mission.
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Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani to be India's next Chief of Defence Staff
New Delhi (PTI): Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani will be India's new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and his key task is set to be to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that seeks to ensure tri-services synergy.
He will succeed Gen Anil Chauhan whose tenure will come to an end on May 30.
Gen Chauhan, a former Eastern Army Commander, took charge as the country's senior-most military commander in September 2022, over nine months after the first CDS, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
The government has appointed Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani (Retd) as the Chief of Defence Staff, who will also function as the secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Lt Gen Subramani is currently serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat.
Prior to that, he was the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025, and was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Command from March 2023 till June 2024.
As Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Subramani's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
The officer is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the eighth battalion of the Garhwal Rifles on December 14, 1985.
Lt Gen Subramani is an alumnus of Joint Services Command Staff College, Bracknell (UK), and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He holds a Master of Arts degree from King's College London and an MPhil in defence studies from Madras University.
In his illustrious career spanning over 40 years, Lt Gen Subramani has served across a wide spectrum of conflict and terrain profiles and tenanted a host of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments.
He commanded the 16 Garhwal Rifles in Counter-Insurgency operations in Assam as part of Operation Rhino, the 168 Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir, and the 17 Mountain Division in the Central Sector, all during a challenging operational environment.
He also has the distinction of commanding two Corps, including the Indian Army's premier strike Corps on the Western Front.
