It is about proving that the agency can still deliver when the stakes are high.
Buying a mature rocket technology gives companies the designs and hardware know-how, but not necessarily the decades of engineering wisdom needed to make it work.
India's move to privatise PSLV rocket production through IN-SPACe has triggered debate over national security, ageing technology and the agency's role.
The move follows a quiet visit by National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in its 63rd mission, would carry the earth observation satellite (EOS-09) which would be capable of capturing high-resolution images of the Earth's surface under all weather conditions.
Based on the broadcast visuals, a rocket expert said the failure appeared similar to the anomaly seen during the PSLV-C61 mission.
ISRO's PSLV-C62 successfully launched an earth observation satellite along with 14 other commercial payloads from Sriharikota, marking the first launch of the year.
These upcoming launches carry added significance in light of setbacks suffered in recent years.
'A solid motor, once ignited, burns until the propellant is exhausted. It cannot simply stop mid-burn,' said a retired senior ISRO official. 'That is what makes this failure puzzling.' Venkatachari Jagannathan reports on the latest PSLV failure.
'There's too much coincidence in back-to-back failures of missions critical to national security.'
Indian Space Research Organisation's 101st mission from Sriharikota, an earth observation satellite onboard the agency's trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, could not be accomplished on Sunday following a pressure issue in the third stage of the launch vehicle, the space agency said.
A PSLV rocket carrying Earth observation satellite EOS-09 failed to launch from the Sriharikota spaceport early on Sunday.
India and the US on Wednesday marked their maiden space collaboration with the successful flight of a GSLV rocket that placed an earth observation satellite, jointly developed by the two space agencies, in a precise orbit.
The main focus of the all weather RISAT-1B satellite will be to observe the Indian land with its C-band synthetic aperture radar.
