Indian Rocket Loses Control Post-Liftoff, Dealings Blow to ISRO

BENGALURU: An Indian rocket carrying 16 equipment payloads and experiments, including an Earth observation satellite, deviated from its course shortly after launch on Monday, marking a setback for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s workhorse launch vehicle.

This is the second failure for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in roughly eight months, raising questions about its reliability despite a success rate of over 90% across about 60 missions.

The PSLV-C62 took off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 10:18 a.m. (04:48 GMT), transporting the EOS-N1 imagery satellite along with 15 other payloads developed by startups and academic groups from India and abroad.

According to ISRO’s mission control, the rocket operated normally during most of its flight before an unexpected disturbance caused it to veer off course.

“An anomaly was observed during the final phase of the PS3 stage,” ISRO announced. “A detailed analysis is underway,” but did not specify the nature or location of the issue.

The PSLV has historically been a cornerstone of India’s space program, supporting missions like Chandrayaan-1 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory. It also plays a vital role in India’s initiative to open space manufacturing to private industry.