ISRO’s workhorse fails second time in a row

In a second consecutive setback, ISRO’s PSLV-C62 rocket carrying 16 satellites, including a foreign Earth Observation payload, failed to place them in the

intended orbit after encountering an “anomaly” in the critical third stage of the launch on Monday.

“Disturbances in the rocket and later deviation from the flight path were observed when strap-on motors were providing thrust during the flight’s third stage to propel the vehicle to the intended altitude”, space agency chairman V Narayanan said, adding a detailed analysis has been initiated to

identify the cause.

The mission to place the satellites in the intended orbit could not be achieved, and all 16 satellites were lost in space, ISRO sources said, adding that this was the second consecutive PSLV mission failure during the third stage. A similar, previous attempt in May 2025 (PSLV-C61-EOS-09) also did not succeed due to a “motor pressure issue,” and there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case.

Among the satellites lost were DRDO’s Anvesha, a strategic super-eye to unmask military camouflage from nearly 500 km, AayulSAT, India’s first in-orbit fuelling satellite, and CGUSAT, a small, student-developed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite designed primarily for emergency communication and disaster management. The Earth Observation satellite was built jointly by Thailand and the UK.

The PSLV-C62 also carried KID, or Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator from a Spanish startup that was a small-scale prototype of a re-entry vehicle.

A former top ISRO scientist said it would take some time for the space agency to collect data, analyse, understand what happened, and make necessary corrections. It is expected that ISRO will officially release the findings in the days to come, he said, requesting anonymity.  

To a query, he said, “it is a setback as the satellites did not reach the intended orbit and all satellites lost in space maybe drifting as space debris.”

As the 22.5-hour countdown concluded on Monday morning, the 44.4 metre tall four-stage rocket lifted off as scheduled at 10.18 am from the spaceport here. The mission was to deploy a primary Earth Observation satellite and multiple co-passenger satellites into a 512 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit, after a flight journey of about 17 minutes.

 The automatic launch sequence commenced following approval from the mission director. ISRO scientists provided real-time updates as the vehicle ascended. The initial phases of the flight proceeded according to plan.

However, after the announcement that the “third stage ignited”, an uneasy calm took over the Mission Control Centre.

In his address at the centre, Narayanan said: “The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle with two solid stages and two liquid stages. The performance of the vehicle up to the end of the third stage was expected. Close to the end of the third stage, we are seeing more disturbance in the vehicle, and subsequently, there was a deviation observed in the flight path.”

Confirming the mission’s failure on its ‘X’ handle, ISRO said, “The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during the end of PS3 (third stage) of the vehicle. A detailed analysis has been initiated.” However, the space agency did not provide more details and didn’t categorically describe the mission as a failure.

Later, in a brief press conference, Narayanan, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said, “As all of you are aware, today we attempted PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 mission... The mission could not proceed in the expected (flight) path. That is the information right now available.”

Further, he said:”We are going through the data and with the data collected from all the ground stations, and once the data analysis is completed, we shall come back to you.”

When the earlier PSLV-C61 mission failed last year, former ISRO Chairman S Somanath had said he was aware of the formidable challenges faced during the development of the third-stage solid motor, an endeavour marked by multiple failures.

“Failure is never defeat, but rather a formidable tutor,” he had said. Ahead of Monday’s launch, ISRO, in a release, said PSLV is the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO that has completed 63 flights, including notable missions like Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, Aditya-L1, and Astrosat Mission. In 2017, PSLV set a world record by launching 104 satellites in a single mission.