Chennai: India’s human spaceflight programme remains firmly on schedule, with the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission likely by the end of this year, Union minister of state Jitendra Singh said, dismissing speculation about delays following the failure of PSLV-C62.Addressing concerns during a media interaction on the sidelines of the Research, Industry, Startup and Entrepreneurship Conclave (RISE), the minister said the January 2026 failure of PSLV-C62 did not alter Isro’s launch plans. The space agency is scheduled to undertake 18 missions in 2026.“We have 18 launches in 2026. All flights are on schedule and not a single launch has been cancelled. This includes six private players, and none withdrew,” he said, responding to questions on whether missions are being postponed due to the PSLV setback. “Isro’s confidence is intact and credibility is intact.” The uncrewed Gaganyaan mission, which will carry the humanoid robot Vyommitra, is expected before the end of this year. The first crewed mission remains slated for 2027 as planned, he added. Singh also said Isro would relaunch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which carried the EOS-N1 Earth observation satellite along with 15 commercial satellites during the unsuccessful mission, by mid-2026.Earlier, inaugurating RISE Conclave, the minister urged the Tamil Nadu govt to work in close coordination with the Centre to strengthen the state’s startup ecosystem. Highlighting the growth of entrepreneurship in the country, he said nearly two lakh startups are currently registered with the Centre, generating about 21 lakh jobs, compared to just 350 startups in 2014.“Almost 50% of the startups come from smaller towns. Tamil Nadu alone has only 34,000 registered startups. We have a vibrant ecosystem here, but we are not exploiting our potential to the maximum,” he said.M Ravichandran, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and N Kalaiselvi, secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, also addressed the gathering, highlighting the govt’s collaborative efforts with academia and industry to accelerate the deployment of technologies developed in govt-funded laboratories.The event also witnessed the launch of a Centre of Excellence set up by Larsen & Toubro in Kanchipuram and the exchange of umbrella Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and several academic institutions.The two-day RISE Conclave was organized to provide a national platform aimed at strengthening partnerships among research institutions, industry, startups and academia, and to promote translation of research into scalable technologies.
