Bhaijaan
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A sad day for Bharatiyas all over the world. Today is a day or mourning and introspection.
www.indiatoday.in
In an unprecedented occurrence, India's workhorse spacefaring rocket PSLV has faced repeat failures - PSLV-C61 on 18th May 2025 and PSLV C-62 on 12thJanuary 2026. On both instances, ISRO lost million-dollar satellites meant to serve national security purposes. As ISRO's workhorse rocket, PSLV has flown 64 times in 33 years, of which it has faced four major failures including the latest. Notably, the 2025 failure and the latest one have been mid-flight failures linked to the third stage of the four-stage spacefaring rocket.
Delivering a televised statement from the spaceport on Monday, (12th Jan), ISRO Chief, Dr. V. Narayanan said, "We attempted PSLV-C62 mission. PSLV is a four-stage rocket. The vehicle performance up to almost the end of the third stage was as expected. By the end of third stage, we observed a disturbance in the vehicle, and a deviation was observed in the flight path. We are analyzing the data, we will come back at the earliest."
After the May 2025 launch failure, the ISRO Chief had said, "Up to the second stage, performance was normal. Third stage ignited, but we made an observation regarding its functioning. Mission could not be accomplished. We are studying the data," said ISRO Chief Dr V. Narayanan. "The third stage of the PSLV uses a solid-fuel motor system. There was a fall in the chamber pressure in the motor case. We are studying the entire performance," the ISRO Chief had added back then.
The primary satellite of this PSLV-C62 mission was the 'EOS-N1' or 'Anvesha', an Earth Observation satellite built by India's Defence Research Development Organization(DRDO). This satellite was to be placed 511kms above the Earth. 'EOS-N1' is a Hyperspectral imaging satellite, which means it can see much more than the human eye or a conventional optical-imaging satellite. As the surface of the Earth gets illuminated by sunlight, different materials(soil, water, metal, vegetation, concrete structure) reflect light, across various wavelengths. A hyperspectral sensor can capture these reflections, classify them and help identify what material it is made of.
This technology has immense civilian and strategic applications, as it can scan the Earth based on unique light signatures emitted by materials. In simple terms, it can identify different materials based on their unique reflection fingerprint(spectral signature). Water quality, soil composition, crop health, are among the environmental aspects that can be studied using this technology. Military targets under camouflage can also be detected.
In addition to 'EOS-N1', there were be 15 co-passenger satellites aboard the PSLV-C62. Seven satellites are from India, while two of them are from Europe, five of them are from Brazil, and one from Nepal. Many of these satellites are from academia or startups, and are meant to demonstrate unique experiments in space.
However, the FAC report related to the May 2025 PSLV-C61 failure has not been publicly released so far. Likewise, the FAC report pertaining to the failure of the NVS-02 strategic satellite in January 2025 remains unreleased to the public. This is widely seen as a departure from the "ISRO culture". However, both these FAC reports are learnt to have been tabled before the Government of India.
Given ISRO's role in launching foreign satellites belonging to governments and private firms, FAC reports being made public are crucial for maintaining transparency and re-establishing confidence. It must be emphasized that the PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62 have failed due to a malfunction in the third-stage, raising questions about quality control and reliability.
Isro's PSLV-C62 loses control after thundering launch, 16 satellites lost in space
The 260-tonne PSLV-DL variant thundered skyward at 10.17 am, performing nominally through the first two stages and separation, captivating viewers nationwide.
In an unprecedented occurrence, India's workhorse spacefaring rocket PSLV has faced repeat failures - PSLV-C61 on 18th May 2025 and PSLV C-62 on 12thJanuary 2026. On both instances, ISRO lost million-dollar satellites meant to serve national security purposes. As ISRO's workhorse rocket, PSLV has flown 64 times in 33 years, of which it has faced four major failures including the latest. Notably, the 2025 failure and the latest one have been mid-flight failures linked to the third stage of the four-stage spacefaring rocket.
Delivering a televised statement from the spaceport on Monday, (12th Jan), ISRO Chief, Dr. V. Narayanan said, "We attempted PSLV-C62 mission. PSLV is a four-stage rocket. The vehicle performance up to almost the end of the third stage was as expected. By the end of third stage, we observed a disturbance in the vehicle, and a deviation was observed in the flight path. We are analyzing the data, we will come back at the earliest."
After the May 2025 launch failure, the ISRO Chief had said, "Up to the second stage, performance was normal. Third stage ignited, but we made an observation regarding its functioning. Mission could not be accomplished. We are studying the data," said ISRO Chief Dr V. Narayanan. "The third stage of the PSLV uses a solid-fuel motor system. There was a fall in the chamber pressure in the motor case. We are studying the entire performance," the ISRO Chief had added back then.
PSLV-C62 was meant to be a comeback flight after May 2025 setback
Monday's PSLV-C62 flight marked PSLV's return to flight after a rare setback during the previous launch in May 2025, and this is also ISRO's first launch of 2026. In simple terms, the PSLV workhorse rocket was grounded after the May failure last year. On May 17th 2025, the PSLV rocket suffered a mid-flight failure. The PSLV's third stage malfunction led to the loss of the rocket and the EOS-09 radar imaging satellite, a critical asset meant to enhance India's day and night, all-weather space-based surveillance.The primary satellite of this PSLV-C62 mission was the 'EOS-N1' or 'Anvesha', an Earth Observation satellite built by India's Defence Research Development Organization(DRDO). This satellite was to be placed 511kms above the Earth. 'EOS-N1' is a Hyperspectral imaging satellite, which means it can see much more than the human eye or a conventional optical-imaging satellite. As the surface of the Earth gets illuminated by sunlight, different materials(soil, water, metal, vegetation, concrete structure) reflect light, across various wavelengths. A hyperspectral sensor can capture these reflections, classify them and help identify what material it is made of.
This technology has immense civilian and strategic applications, as it can scan the Earth based on unique light signatures emitted by materials. In simple terms, it can identify different materials based on their unique reflection fingerprint(spectral signature). Water quality, soil composition, crop health, are among the environmental aspects that can be studied using this technology. Military targets under camouflage can also be detected.
In addition to 'EOS-N1', there were be 15 co-passenger satellites aboard the PSLV-C62. Seven satellites are from India, while two of them are from Europe, five of them are from Brazil, and one from Nepal. Many of these satellites are from academia or startups, and are meant to demonstrate unique experiments in space.
PSLV-C61 Failure Analysis Committee report yet to be made public
As a taxpayer-funded civilian space agency founded with the ideals of serving the people of India, ISRO has had the practice of making public the Failure Analysis Committee(FAC) reports. These FAC reports are typically readied by in-house experts within a few months of a mission failure.However, the FAC report related to the May 2025 PSLV-C61 failure has not been publicly released so far. Likewise, the FAC report pertaining to the failure of the NVS-02 strategic satellite in January 2025 remains unreleased to the public. This is widely seen as a departure from the "ISRO culture". However, both these FAC reports are learnt to have been tabled before the Government of India.
Given ISRO's role in launching foreign satellites belonging to governments and private firms, FAC reports being made public are crucial for maintaining transparency and re-establishing confidence. It must be emphasized that the PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62 have failed due to a malfunction in the third-stage, raising questions about quality control and reliability.
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