ISRO could relaunch PSLV by June or July: Jitendra Singh

The Indian Space Research Organisation hasn’t lost its confidence due to the recent consecutive failures of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and may resume launches from June or July, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

“We are doing the pre-runs. If all goes according to our timeline, [the launch] may be by June or July,” he told reporters after inaugurating a two-day Research, Industry, Startup, and Entrepreneurship Conclave 2026 organised by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Chennai. Gaganyaan, ISRO’s first crewed space mission, was slated for 2027 and would proceed as scheduled, he said. The organisation was in the final stages of test flights with humanoid robot Vyommitra on board. This would possibly happen before the end of the year, he added.

“We have 18 launches in 2026. Not a single launch has been cancelled. Out of that, we have six private parties and they have also not withdrawn,” Dr. Singh said.

Speaking about the conclave, Dr. Singh said the Centre had announced a ₹1-lakh crore research, development, and innovation fund to help accelerate entrepreneurs to technology readiness level (TRL) 4. Similarly, soon after moving into his new office, the Prime Minister had announced a ₹10,000-crore fund for supporting deep tech start-ups. The CSIR too had relaxed conditions for deep tech start-ups having to sustain themselves for three years before qualifying for government financial support.

Tamil Nadu, he noted, had two vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystems in Chennai and Coimbatore. He said the Centre would coordinate with the Tamil Nadu government and the private sector to provide a fillip to the start-up ecosystem.

Earlier, at the inaugural function, Dr. Singh said the Ministry had stopped working in silos and had adopted a more integrated approach to work in tandem with the industry and academia.

M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that there were ample opportunities for start-ups in climate change-related research, services, sustainability, and disaster mitigation. The government, he said, had a lot of data and could enable startups to bring fast delivery of various services. Giving examples, he said there were opportunities for hyper local weather forecast, precision agriculture, carbon accounting tools, or user specific services of many things related to climate change.

At the event, the CSIR signed memoranda of understanding with academic institutions and their incubation centres to strengthen collaboration.

Among those who were present at the inaugural were N. Kalaiselvi, Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Director General, CSIR, K. Ramesha, Director, CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, N. Anandavalli, Director, CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Institute, P. Thanikaivelan, Director, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, and K.J. Sreeram, Scientist H, CSIR.