'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.
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.
A Spanish startup, Orbital Paradigm, claims its payload, KID, survived the failed PSLV-C62 mission and transmitted data, despite ISRO's silence on the matter. The mission, carrying 16 satellites, failed due to issues in the rocket's third stage.
Based on the broadcast visuals, a rocket expert said the failure appeared similar to the anomaly seen during the PSLV-C61 mission.
These upcoming launches carry added significance in light of setbacks suffered in recent years.
ISRO is preparing for the PSLV-C62 mission launch on January 12 from Sriharikota, carrying the EOS-N1 satellite and multiple other payloads.
ISRO has announced plans for seven launch missions by March, including the first uncrewed mission for the Gaganyaan project and demonstrations of new satellite technologies.
India is set to take its first steps towards its own human space flight when the uncrewed Gaganyaan mission soars to the skies later this year. Private players in the space sector are also gearing up for launching satellites on home-built rockets.
A PSLV rocket carrying Earth observation satellite EOS-09 failed to launch from the Sriharikota spaceport early on Sunday.
Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for one of its busiest times with seven more launches planned this financial year, even as India's first human spaceflight remains scheduled for 2027, its chairman V Narayanan said.
In terms of success rate, the PSLV rocket has an enviable record of 57 successful missions out of 58 commercial ones.
The heaviest communication satellite to be launched from the Indian soil onboard a new generation, homegrown 'Bahubali' rocket was successfully placed into the intended orbit on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
ISRO said the upper stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle - C37 (PSLV-C37) re-entered the earth's atmosphere on October 6, 2024 and the impact point was the North Atlantic Ocean.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative involving precision-flying, Indian Space Research Organisation on Thursday successfully launched the Proba-3 mission onboard a PSLV-C59 rocket, a solar experiment undertaken by the European Space Agency.
ISRO chairman announces plans for nine major launches by the end of the fiscal year, including the Blue Bird Block2 communication satellite for the US in collaboration with NASA.
'There's too much coincidence in back-to-back failures of missions critical to national security.'
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.
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.
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.
The imaging technology in Nisar can provide very high-resolution data on changes as small as one centimetre in size on the earth's surface.
ISRO to launch a 6,500 kg communication satellite built by the US, marking a significant milestone in the Indian space program after the successful launch of the NASA-ISRO NISAR mission.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the fourth edition of the PSLV Orbital platform Experiment Module (POEM-4), used for the space docking experiment mission, has successfully re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The module, a repurposed spent upper stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, impacted at 02:33 UTC (08:03 IST) on April 04, 2025, in the Indian Ocean. This successful re-entry signifies ISRO's commitment to mitigating space debris and contributing to the long-term sustainability of the outer space environment. POEM-4 had hosted 24 payloads during its mission life, yielding valuable science data. ISRO and the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) closely monitored the module's orbit decay and predicted the re-entry date. This event showcases ISRO's proactive approach to responsible space operations.
India will launch the PSLV-C56 carrying DS-SAR satellites from Singapore, along with six co-passenger satellites, from ISRO's Sriharikota spaceport on Sunday, July 30, 2023.
'The solution is to replace, clean up, retest and proceed.' 'There is nothing to worry about if corrected.'
State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has won a bid under which it will receive technology from the Indian Space Research Organisation for the end-to-end commercial production of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), a first for the industry as India seeks to become a global hub for small satellite manufacturing and launches.
Around 23 minutes after lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and it was followed by six other co-passenger satellites, which were deployed into the intended orbits sequentially, ISRO said.
While the mission is a follow-up to the PSLV-C55 TeLEOS-2 mission launched in April this year, scientists in Sunday's mission will place the fourth stage of the PSLV rocket in a lower orbit.
Dubbed as a prelude to ISRO setting up its own Space Station by 2035, the PSLV-C60 mission would also make India join an elite club in achieving this feat which is expected to take place in the coming days.
The fuel cost will come down if rockets are launched from Kulasekarapattinam as they will have a straight trajectory and need not have to avoid Sri Lanka, which is being done by rockets flown from Sriharikota.
The main focus of the all weather RISAT-1B satellite will be to observe the Indian land with its C-band synthetic aperture radar.
The Indian government has approved the construction of a third launch pad at Sriharikota, capable of sending heavier spacecraft into orbit. This new facility will support India's ambitious space program, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and a lunar landing. The launch pad will be built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and is expected to be operational within four years.
Demonstration of seed germination in outer space, a robotic arm to catch a tethered debris there, and testing of green propulsion systems are some of the experiments planned on the POEM-4 -- the fourth stage of ISRO's PSLV rocket that remains in orbit after launching a satellite.
The 25-hour countdown has begun for the launch of the Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV-C53 mission in Sriharikota.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that cowpea seeds sent to space onboard the PSLV-C60 POEM-4 platform have successfully germinated under microgravity conditions, marking a significant milestone for India's space program. This experiment, known as CROPS (Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies), aims to understand how plants grow in the unique conditions of space, which is essential for future long-duration space missions.
'The LVM3 rocket will orbit one Block 2 BlueBird satellite in Low Earth Orbit.'
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has rescheduled the launch of PSLV-C59 to Thursday due to an "anomaly" detected in the PROBA-3 spacecraft. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday at 4.08 pm from the spaceport in Sriharikota. The anomaly was identified by scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA), who requested the rescheduling of the launch. The PROBA-3 mission, a joint project between ESA and ISRO, aims to study the Sun's corona using two spacecraft that will fly in formation. The launch will provide valuable insights for ISRO's future solar missions, including the Aditya-L1 mission which was launched in September 2023.
The two Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites that the Indian Space Research Organisation is hoping to unite are at a distance of 1.5 km and will be brought much closer on January 11, the space agency said on Friday.
The mission objective is to ensure data continuity of ocean color and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.
India is marching towards becoming the fourth country in the world to have space docking technology.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said the two satellites launched to perform space docking experiments were brought within three metres and then moved safely back in a trial attempt.
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