ISRO mission fails as PSLV suffers third-stage anomaly

New Delhi: In a rare failure, India’s main rocket PSLV developed problems a few minutes after take-off and failed to place earth observation satellite EOS-09 into the intended orbit in an early morning launch on Sunday.

In a short statement, ISRO said the problem was observed in the third stage but did not give any details. “Today’s 101st launch was attempted. PSLV-C61 performance was normal till second stage. Due to an observation in the third stage, the mission could not be accomplished,” ISRO said.

This was the 101st mission launched by ISRO, and the 63rd one using the PSLV rocket, which is the most successful launch vehicle developed by India’s space agency.

PSLV has failed on only two earlier occasions, the first time during its inaugural flight in 1993 and then in 2017 when the C-39 mission had been unsuccessful.

“Heartbreaking to see a failure in PSLV today. I still remember my time at ISRO and how shaken we were when PSLV-C39 failed in 2017 after more than two decades of successful flights. It’s a powerful reminder of how complex and unforgiving spaceflight can be, even for proven workhorses like PSLV,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana of Skyroot, a private space company that is developing its own launch vehicles.