Orbital Paradigm: Ill-Fated PSLV’s 4th Stage Ignited. KID Taught Us A Ton
•February 17, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
The incident exposes launch‑vehicle risk for ISRO while confirming that commercial re‑entry technology can survive extreme conditions, opening a market for on‑demand hypersonic services.
Key Takeaways
- •PSLV-C62’s fourth stage fired during uncontrolled descent
- •Orbital Paradigm’s KID payload survived and transmitted data
- •Thermal opening mechanism ejected KID during re‑entry heating
- •Mission validated avionics, thermal protection, and hypersonic navigation
- •Next ‘Learn to Fly’ mission aims for controlled recovery
Pulse Analysis
The PSLV‑C62 launch on 11 January 2026 was widely reported as a failure after the third stage lost attitude control. However, Orbital Paradigm’s analysis shows that the rocket’s fourth stage continued to thrust while the vehicle was already falling back toward Earth. This unusual sequence created a chaotic trajectory that left the upper stage and its KID payload tumbling through the atmosphere, a scenario rarely captured in telemetry. The incident underscores the challenges ISRO faces in maintaining stage‑separation integrity and highlights the need for robust fault‑tolerance in multi‑stage launch systems.
Orbital Paradigm’s KID demonstrator turned a mishap into a data goldmine. The capsule’s thermal‑opening separation ring activated as aerodynamic heating exceeded 1,500 °C, propelling KID away from the descending stage. Once free, the payload’s avionics and TT&C suite powered up, establishing a link with space‑based telemetry assets. The transmitted metrics validated the company’s aerodynamic models, hypersonic navigation algorithms, and thermal‑protection material performance under real re‑entry conditions. These results provide concrete evidence that low‑cost, reusable re‑entry vehicles can survive the extreme g‑loads and heat fluxes of uncontrolled descent.
The broader implication is a burgeoning commercial market for controlled re‑entry and payload recovery services. Orbital Paradigm’s forthcoming “Learn to Fly” mission aims to demonstrate precision landing and payload retrieval, targeting satellite operators and defense customers seeking rapid, on‑demand access to space. With near‑full capacity already booked, the firm signals strong demand for reliable hypersonic flight solutions. As ISRO and other agencies grapple with launch reliability, private players that can guarantee survivable re‑entry and data return are poised to capture a valuable niche in the evolving space economy.
Orbital Paradigm: Ill-Fated PSLV’s 4th Stage Ignited. KID Taught Us A Ton
The general belief is that India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C62 (PSLV-C62) failed after its third stage suffered a problem towards the end of its burn time. It has come to light that the rocket’s fourth stage did start firing before it came down. This aspect has been brought out by Spanish company Orbital Paradigm, which sent its KID (Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator) on the ill-fated Indian rocket.
“Based on our understanding and the PSLV-C62 launch data, at some point PSLV separated its 3rd stage and started thrusting with its 4th stage, while still falling back to Earth. We have no information on what the trajectory was during the PSLV stage 4 burn, nor do we have data on the time, location and velocity at which the PSLV assembly fell back to Earth (meaning, the time and position, velocity at which the upper stage with KID on top fell back to an altitude of 120km),” Orbital Paradigm said in its report titled ‘The KID Survived-Post Flight Report’.
The Indian space agency had earlier said: “The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated.” ISRO is yet to set up a Failure Analysis Committee (FAC) to study the cause of PSLV-C62’s loss on Jan 11, 2026.
Be that as it may, the KID survived and was able to transmit some data to Orbital Paradigm. According to the company, towards the end of the third stage burn it seems PSLV lost attitude control, and stopped its climb and acceleration to orbit.
“Based on our understanding and the PSLV C62 launch data, at some point PSLV separated its 3rd stage and started thrusting with its 4th stage, while still falling back to Earth. We have no information on what the trajectory was during the PSLV stage 4 burn, nor do we have data on the time, location and velocity at which the PSLV assembly fell back to Earth (meaning, the time and position, velocity at which the upper stage with KID on top fell back to an altitude of 120km),” Orbital Paradigm said in its report.
Bloom Amidst Gloom
“At this point faces at the office were definitely not happy, but Bruno, from our software team, decides to have a look at the ground segment and tells us, completely chill, that “We have data,” the company said.
KID can only transmit data if it’s switched on, and can only switch on if it is physically separated from its mounting on the launcher. In addition, the antennas, which are located in the back of the capsule, need to be healthy. Since the separation ring is also mounted on the back plane, having transmission means that the mounting plane is not damaged, which means that the separation from the launcher has most likely been smooth.
During entry from space, at very high velocity, the air in front of the upper stage of PSLV and payload structure will have compressed so much that its temperature rises significantly, potentially to more than 1500ºC, the report said.
The report concludes that the KID got separated from the PSLV’s fourth stage due to atmospheric heating during entry resulting in the separation ring thermal opening mechanism getting activated. The KID was pushed out from the falling rocket.
“At separation the system will have switched on, and the antennas and transmission activated. To allow for data link, KID must have kept an orientation in space that enabled the onboard antennas to establish a connection with the space-based telemetry service (meaning, satellites in space that received our data). “
KID Taught A Ton
Per Francesco Cacciatore, Co-Founder, CEO and CTO, the learnings from the mission were that the company confirmed that with the available tools it can design a vehicle that maintains stability in hypersonic flight, and that can survive the heat fluxes and g-load of a reentry flight.
“We validate multiple low-level technological solutions. We confirmed the suitability of the avionics and TT&C architecture, we validated our aerodynamic models and the tools we use to simulate the trajectory and to analyze and define the stability properties of our system. We have tested our thermal protection material in real mission conditions and improved the estimation of its properties, validating the suitability of this initial iteration. We tested and validated our hypersonic navigation, and we confirmed the suitability of our thermal design approach,” he said in a social media post.
“So, what’s next? Reentry data are comprehensive enough that we do not need to launch a second KID mission. We have what we need. Our focus shifts to the “Learn to Fly” mission next year, which will feature full recovery capabilities. We are raising the bar to achieve controlled reentry flight and recovery operations. Like KID, “Learn to Fly” will host commercial customers. Capacities are already nearly sold out, proving that this is a real market searching for reliable solutions,” Orbital Paradigm said.
The post Orbital Paradigm: Ill-Fated PSLV’s 4th Stage Ignited. KID Taught Us A Ton appeared first on Orbital Today.
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