PSLV Satellite Launch Mission Fails for Second Time: Here’s What Went Wrong

New Delhi: It is not the first time that an ISRO PSLV mission has failed. On Monday morning at 10:18 AM, the PSLV-C62 rocket launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, suffered a technical glitch, resulting in the failure to deploy its satellites. This marks the second consecutive PSLV mission failure, following the PSLV-C61 mission on May 18, 2025, which failed during the third stage while attempting to place the EOS-09 satellite into orbit.

Details of the PSLV-C62 Mission

The PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 mission was the 105th launch from Sriharikota, the 64th flight of the PSLV rocket, and the fifth flight of the PSLV-DL variant. The mission carried India’s EOS-N1 satellite (Anvesha) for Earth observation, along with 14 co-passenger satellites developed by startups and academic institutions from India and abroad. Additionally, a re-entry capsule was part of the payload to test advanced space technologies.

ISRO has confirmed that a thorough investigation is underway to identify the cause of the failure and implement corrective measures for future missions to prevent similar incidents.

What Went Wrong?

According to ISRO, the rocket’s performance was nominal up to the end of the third stage, but in the final moments of the stage, an abnormal change in the rocket’s rotational velocity was observed. This deviation caused the flight trajectory to veer off course, preventing the satellites from reaching their intended orbit.

Dr. V. Narayanan, ISRO Chairman, explained that the PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle, consisting of alternating solid and liquid-fuel stages. While the rocket performed as expected through the first three stages, the anomaly at the end of the third stage led to mission failure. ISRO will release detailed findings once the investigation is complete.