ISRO's KID Capsule Sends Data After Separation from PSLV-C62

On January 14, during a critical event in ISRO’s PSLV-C62 mission, the KID (Kestrel Initial Demonstrator) capsule carried by the rocket "was not destroyed and began transmitting data," according to the Spanish startup company Orbital Paradigm, which developed the payload. ISRO, however, has not commented on or confirmed the company’s claim. The claim was shared on January 13 via Orbital Paradigm’s official account on X.

The PSLV-C62 rocket, carrying 16 satellites including a foreign Earth observation satellite, encountered a malfunction during the third stage of its flight. This caused the rocket to deviate from its intended trajectory and fail to place the satellites into the planned orbit, ISRO reported on Monday.

The PSLV-C62 mission also carried the 25-kilogram KID capsule developed by the Spanish startup, a small prototype vehicle capable of re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Orbital Paradigm stated, "Despite the challenges, our KID capsule separated from PSLV-C62 and began transmitting data."

The mission aimed to deploy a primary Earth observation satellite and 15 co-passenger satellites into a 512-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit after approximately 17 minutes of flight. Later, the rocket’s fourth stage (PS4) and the KID capsule were planned to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land in the South Pacific Ocean. According to the Spanish startup, despite the PSLV-C62 mission’s failure, only the KID capsule survived, separated from the rocket, and transmitted data successfully.