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Back to the RIDE! - Mission Update. RIDE! Official Statement on the PSLV-C62 Mission

January 14, 2026

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Chapter 1 :  Unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary outcome of the mission

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On January 12th, 2026, the PSLV-C62 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. During the third stage separation, an anomaly in the vehicle caused a deviation from the planned trajectory. Notwithstanding the payloads not reaching their intended orbits, the KID reentry capsule from Orbital Paradigm, part of our Back to the RIDE! mission, ended up with an extraordinary outcome. 

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Despite off-nominal conditions, KID separated from the launcher, transmitted reentry data, and returned to Earth in the Indian Ocean. This makes KID the only payload on the mission to deliver post-flight data, providing insights that will complete ongoing investigations and guide our next mission together, the second one for the Spanish company, Learn2Fly.  

RIDE! is now cooperating closely with all stakeholders involved - Orbital Paradigm, UARX, NSIL and ISRO - and supporting this data analysis in order to help investigate the launch outcome. 

PSLV is a historic launch vehicle, having flown a total of 64 missions with 60 successes, representing a 93.75% success rate, which can be considered a benchmark of reliability in the global space sector. Back to the RIDE! (KID) represents the first reentry capsule mission ever launched on a PSLV launch vehicle.

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Chapter 2 : A look back to another RIDE! pioneering mission

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Pioneering missions demand teams to embrace complexity and operate in environments where risks are inherent and outcomes are challenging. These are not defined by ideal conditions, but by how partners respond, adapt, and turn unexpected situations into actionable learning. PSLV-C62 represented a first-of-a-kind integration and interface scenario.

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RIDE! provided end-to-end launch services to Orbital Paradigm at every stage of this launch mission:

  • Launch vehicle selection and reentry mission compatibility study.
  • Technical and regulatory compatibility management with ISRO/NSIL interfaces.
  • International licensing and regulatory coordination for reentry capsule.
  • Support for the reentry trajectory definition.
  • Launch mission planning and full launch campaign execution.
  • Coordination of international teams for a non-standard operational profile.
  • Support for the qualification of a new separation system on PSLV.
  • Conducted two on-site operation sequences at Trivandrum (VSSC) and  SHAR, India, to support mission qualification and integration.
  • Ensured real-time operational oversight.
  • Validation of all first-time process creation with the launch vehicle.

This is what we accomplished. Even though the mission did not fully meet technical goals, it reinforced our capabilities and prepared us for other initiatives.

All lessons learned apply directly to both our future projects as well as the broader space ecosystem we are part of. Participating in such spacecraft campaigns reinforces our team's know-how and validates RIDE!’s capacity to guide our partners in real-life scenarios that few other actors have navigated already.  Through this campaign, RIDE! has consolidated operational expertise, positioning the team to support any international reentry capsules and other experimental payload launches with confidence and hands-on experience.

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Chapter 3 : Give back our learnings to the ecosystem and forward focus

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RIDE! continues to support the ongoing technical investigation with ISRO and NSIL, assisting our partners, consolidating lessons learned from PSLV-C62 into strengthened mission management processes while preparing the Learn2Fly launch, our second launch with Orbital Paradigm.

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We know these efforts strengthen the industry's collective knowledge. This is why, RIDE! remains available to all other payload teams involved in this PSLV-C62 launch and to the broader space ecosystem, to support them with the collected takeaways from this mission.  

Over the past 48 hours, our team has actively managed real-time communication, coordination, between all parties involved, in a multi-cultural environment.

Since 2021, RIDE! has been working with ISRO and NSIL under a strategic partnership covering their entire range of launchers, including LVM-3 and SSLV, and it will continue this way.

With 40+ launch missions and a growing slate of launches over the next 16 months, RIDE! combines proven operational heritage with a relentless focus on delivering success for our clients. 

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RIDE! team,
Be THE access to Space.

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contact@ridespace.io