ISRO’s Rocket Carrying 16 Satellites Fails, Deviates In Third Stage Similar To 2025 Setback

Last Updated:January 12, 2026, 15:24 IST

Fifth failure in 64 launches: ISRO chairman V Narayanan said that close to the end of the third stage, there was a deviation observed in the flight path

ISRO's PSLV-C62 carrying the EOS-N1 after the lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Monday. (PTI)

ISRO’s PSLV-C62 rocket carrying 16 satellites, including a foreign Earth Observation satellite, “encountered an anomaly", the space agency said on Monday, signalling the failure of the mission.

Disturbances in the rocket and later deviation from flight path was observed when strap-on motors were providing thrust during the flight’s third stage to propel the vehicle to the intended altitude, space agency chairman V Narayanan said, adding a detailed analysis has been initiated to identify the cause.

What went wrong? Third-stage disturbance, says Narayanan

The mission of placing the satellites in the intended orbit could not be achieved and all the 16 satellites were lost. This is the second consecutive mission failure for the PSLV as a similar, previous attempt in May 2025 (PSLV-C61-EOS-09) also did not succeed.

As the 22.5-hour countdown concluded, the 44.4 metre tall four-stage rocket lifted off as scheduled at 10.18 am from the spaceport here. The mission was to deploy a primary Earth Observation satellite and multiple co-passenger satellites into a 512 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit, after a flight journey of about 17 minutes.

The automatic launch sequence commenced following approval from the mission director. ISRO scientists provided real-time updates as the vehicle ascended. The initial phases of the flight proceeded according to plan.

However, after the announcement that the “third stage ignited", an uneasy calm took over the Mission Control Centre.

In his address at the centre, Narayanan said, “The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle with two solid stages and two liquid stages. The performance of the vehicle up to the end of the third stage was expected. Close to the end of the third stage, we are seeing more disturbance in the vehicle and subsequently, there was a deviation observed in the flight path."

Confirming the mission’s failure on its ‘X’ handle, ISRO said, “The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during the end of PS3 (third stage) of the vehicle. A detailed analysis has been initiated." However, the space agency did not provide more details.

Later, in a brief press conference, Narayanan, who is also the Secretary of Department of Space, said, “As all of you are aware, today we attempted PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 mission… the mission could not proceed in the expected (flight) path. That is the information right now available." Further, he said: “We are going through the data and with the data collected from all the ground stations and once the data analysis is completed, we shall come back to you."

The 16 satellites aboard PSLV-C62

EOS-N1 (Anvesha) – Earth observation satellite developed for strategic use by India (DRDO/NSIL).

AayulSAT – Tech-demo by Indian startup OrbitAID for on-orbit refuelling experiments.

MOI-1 – AI lab and imaging CubeSat by TakeMe2Space with a light telescope from EON Space Labs.

LACHIT-1 – Satellite from Indian institutions via Dhruva Space.

Thybolt-3 – Satellite by Dhruva Space for communications subsystem validation.

CGUSat-1 (CGU Sat) – Academic satellite by CG University.

DSUSat-1 (DSU Sat) – University satellite (Dayananda Sagar University).

SanskarSat – Another Indian student/academic satellite.

Munal – 1U CubeSat by Antharkshya Pratishtan with support from Nepal’s Ministry of External Affairs (high-school/student project).

EduSat – Educational satellite.

UaiSat – Amateur radio / store-and-forward satellite.

Galaxy Explorer – CubeSat focusing on science (e.g., magnetic anomalies).

Orbital Temple – PocketQube art/memorial platform.

Aldebaran-1 – CubeSat for maritime rescue payloads.

THEOS-2A – Earth observation satellite from Thailand’s GISTDA, built with support by UK-based SSTL (Satellite Applications Ltd).

Kestrel Initial Demonstrator (KID) – A 25 kg experimental capsule by Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm to test re-entry and recovery tech.

What happened in 2025?

The ISRO faced a setback after its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C61) mission, aimed at deploying the EOS-09 earth observation satellite into a sun-synchronous polar orbit, failed on May 18.

Although the rocket lifted off at 5:59 am (IST) from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre successfully, the mission could not accomplished as the launch failed during the third of four stages due to a fall in pressure.

The space agency said morning that an anomaly during the solid fuel stage was observed after successful first and second stages.

“Today we attempted a launch of PSLV-C61 vehicle. The vehicle is a 4-stage vehicle. The first two stages performed as expected. During the 3rd stage, we are seeing observation…The mission could not be accomplished. We are studying the entire performance, we shall come back at the earliest," ISRO Chief V Narayanan had said.

Will PSLV-C62 become the fifth failure in 64 launches?

If the ISRO officially declares the mission a failure, it would be the fifth in 64 PSLV launches. The setback extends beyond ISRO as the mission carried satellites from foreign countries such as Brazil, Nepal and the UK, along with those of Indian startups.

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