New Delhi: After taking off at the scheduled time of 5.59 am on Sunday, the 101st launch of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) failed mid-flight during its third stage. This took place just minutes after the launch.
ISRO’s PSLV C61 rocket had launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with EOS 09, an earth observation satellite, onboard. The mission was aimed at carrying the Earth observation satellite into a Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO). But why did it fail?
According to ISRO’s Chairman V Narayanan, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is a 4-stage rocket. While the first two stages were normal, there was a “fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case” which caused the mission failure during the third stage.
“Today, we targeted the 101st launch from Sriharikota, the PSLVC61 EOS-09 mission. The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle, and up to the second stage, the performance was normal. The third stage motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation,” Narayanan told PTI.
“…and the motor pressure–there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case, and the mission could not be accomplished. We are studying the entire performance, we shall come back at the earliest,” he added
“On 18th May 2025, the 101st launch was attempted, PSLV-C61 performance was normal till the 2nd stage. Due to an observation in the 3rd stage, the mission could not be accomplished,” said ISRO.
About the mission
EOS-09 is a repeat satellite of EOS-04. According to the ISRO, it has been designed with the mission objective to ensure remote sensing data for the user community engaged in operational applications and to improve the frequency of observation.
The mission carried a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload. According to ISRO, it was capable of providing images for various earth observation applications under all-weather conditions.
