KID (spacecraft)
Space capsule technology demonstrator
KID
Mission typeAtmospheric entry technology demonstration
OperatorSpain Orbital Paradigm
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeUncrewed space capsule
Launch mass25 kg
Payload mass2 kg
Dimensions40 cm (diameter)
Start of mission
Launch date12 January 2026, 04:48:30 UTC
RocketPSLV-C62
Launch siteSatish Dhawan Space Centre
ContractorIndia ISRO
Deployed fromPSLV 4th stage
End of mission
DisposalOcean impact
Landing date12 January 2026
Landing siteSouth Indian ocean

KID (Kestrel Initial Demonstrator) was a small experimental space capsule developed by the Spanish company Orbital Paradigm, with the support of European Space Agency's FLPP,[1][2][3] as a subscale demonstrator for the future reusable space capsule Kestrel.[4][5][6][7][8]

Planned mission profile

KID had no propulsion of its own nor any parachutes and was not designed to be recovered after landing.[9] After the rocket's fourth stage de-orbit maneuver, the capsule would separate and attempt to survive the reentry while transmitting data to Earth before impacting in the South Pacific Ocean.[10][11]

Flight

The capsule launched on 12 January 2026 on the PSLV-C62 rideshare mission of the Indian rocket PSLV.[12][10][13] The spacecraft was presumed lost when the rocket's third stage encountered an anomaly in flight and the rocket failed to reach orbit.[13][14][15][16][17] However, the company later revealed that KID separated from the falling fourth stage at around Mach 20 approximately 18 minutes after takeoff and managed to transmit three minutes of flight data. The capsule operated beyond its design envelope through peak forces around 28 g during the off-nominal re-entry at steeper angle than expected (around -20º instead of -5º) and managed to control its internal temperature. KID impacted in a remote region of the southern Indian ocean. This made KID the lone survivor of the PSLV-C62 flight.[18][19][20]

Payload

The capsule had a payload capacity equivalent to a 2U CubeSat[21] and carried experiments for three customers: the French company ALATYR, the British company Frontier Space, and Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany.[19][4] Due to short duration of the off-nominal flight, no customer payload data were transmitted.[19][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Future Space Transportation FLPP Autumn Session 2025 (INSPOC-3)" (PDF). 2025-10-21. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  2. ^ Musacchio, Miriam (2024-10-28). "From Engines to Orbit: ESA Awards the Innovators Shaping Europe's Space Future". ESA Commercialisation Gateway. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  3. ^ "SPHERICAL and Orbital Paradigm Selected By ESA For In-Space Proof of Concept-3 Ideation Activities - SPHERICAL". www.spherical-systems.com. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  4. ^ a b Parsonson, Andrew (2025-09-04). "Orbital Paradigm Secures Three Customers for 2025 Reentry Capsule Demo". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  5. ^ Alamalhodaei, Aria (2025-09-04). "Madrid's Orbital Paradigm aims to prove a cheaper path to orbital reentry". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  6. ^ Foust, Jeff (2025-09-04). "Orbital Paradigm readies first reentry mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  7. ^ Garcia, David Cendon (2025-08-07). "Spanish SpaceTech Orbital Paradigm raises €1.5 million to build reusable space capsules". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  8. ^ Castillo, Alejandro (2025-09-08). "Orbital Paradigm Prepares First Reentry Mission". Telemetry Today. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  9. ^ Gorman, Douglas (2025-09-05). "Orbital Paradigm Makes the Case for Profitable Reentry". Payload. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  10. ^ a b "Spanish KID to reenter Earth's atmosphere after Indian rocket ejects in space". 10 January 2026.
  11. ^ C.S, Hemanth (2026-01-12). "PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 Mission encounters anomaly during end of PS3 stage". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  12. ^ Mike Wall (2026-01-11). "Watch India launch advanced military satellite on rocket's 1st flight since May 2025 failure". Space. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  13. ^ a b "'Deviation seen in third-stage': Isro's PSLV-C62 mission fails". The Times of India. 2026-01-12. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  14. ^ Vasudev, Amit (2026-01-12). "Two consecutive PSLV failures in a year raise concerns over ISRO's 'workhorse' rocket". The South First | News, Politics, Sports, Entertainment & Live Updates. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  15. ^ "What is ISRO PSLV-C62 Mission? Check Launch of DRDO's EOS-N1 Satellite". Jagranjosh.com. 2026-01-12. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  16. ^ "Indian PSLV rocket apparently fails for 2nd launch in a row". Space. 2026-01-11. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  17. ^ "Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589.bsky.social)". Bluesky Social. 2026-01-12. Archived from the original on 2026-01-12. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
  18. ^ a b Gorman, Douglas (2026-01-13). "Exclusive: Orbital Paradigm Emerges as the Lone Survivor of Failed PSLV Launch". Payload. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  19. ^ a b c "The KID Survived - Mission Update #2 We've spent the last 24 hours reviewing all data received during the PSLV-C62 mission to understand what happened. Here's what we can confirm: // The reentry… | Orbital Paradigm | 22 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  20. ^ "Lone Spanish satellite survives PSLV-C62's failure, sends data from space". India Today. 2026-01-13. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  21. ^ Agile return transportation for the in-space industry
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