Indian Space Program: News & Discussion

[Dilbu]

Up to third stage was normal. No news so far about fourth stage ignition. Hopefully it is only a delay of some sort.

[SSridhar]

Now, launch streaming is stopped.
From the graphics, it appeared that when the 3rd stage ended and the coast phase began, the rocket lost its attitude.
Briefly later, the info display showed that PS4 had ignited.

[uddu]

Seems it was a failure. Some spinning of the satellite observed.

[drnayar]

Probably DRDO needs to launch it's own satellites .. under secrecy.. or use only whetted people for the high profile ones

[SSridhar]

‘Deviation seen in third-stage': Isro’s PSLV-C62 mission fails

A workhorse PSLV suffering two successive 3rd stage failures is unbelievable. The C-61 FAC has not determined the exact cause of that failure yet.

SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Monday said that the PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during end of the PS3 stage and a detailed analysis has been initiated.

"Today we have attempted the PSLV C62 / EOS - N1 Mission. The PSLV vehicle is a four stage vehicle with two solid stages and two liquid stages," Isro chief V. Narayanan said.

"The performance of the vehicle close to the end of third stage was as expected. Close to the end of third stage we are seeing more disturbance in the vehicle. Subsequently, there is a deviation in the vehicle observed in the flight path. We are analysing the data and will come shall come back at the earliest," he added.

Isro launched EOS-N1, along with 14 co-passenger satellites and a capsule into a re-entry trajectory in a marathon mission, marking the space agency’s first mission of 2026.

The flight comes months after a rare setback, when PSLV-C61, launched on May 18, 2025, failed to place the EOS-09 earth observation satellite into orbit due to a third-stage anomaly.

[Prem Kumar]

This is bad. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy-action

PSLV was carrying a hyperspectral satellite - a strategic payload

Our IRNSS network is hanging by a thread. PSLV two consecutive failures. Our launch rates have plummeted while other countries and even private companies are surging ahead

Its either sabotage or a serious drop in in morale/discipline at ISRO (or) both

If we recall the Stuxnet worm, it was so sophisticated that all the accidents looked random. Its entirely possible that some deep-state actors are at play. Even if failures have different root-causes, it does not rule out sabotage. It could probably be an advanced form of sabotage

Plus, ISRO needs a kick up its rear too. Focusing too much on vanity projects like Gaganyaan when strategic projects are dying on the vine. For comparison, China has 100s of milsats in orbit

[S_Madhukar]

Why can't they just launch instead of such fanfare, I think sabotage is happening at private company factory itself masking component failure.
Hope in future they do this quietly like boomers or at least don't mix civilian and strategic payloads

[drnayar]

Why can't they just launch instead of such fanfare, I think sabotage is happening at private company factory itself masking component failure.
Hope in future they do this quietly like boomers or at least don't mix civilian and strategic payloads

Time India separates civilian from strategic rocket launches.. just too many variables to ensure a smooth launch

[drnayar]

This is bad. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy-action

PSLV was carrying a hyperspectral satellite - a strategic payload

Our IRNSS network is hanging by a thread. PSLV two consecutive failures. Our launch rates have plummeted while other countries and even private companies are surging ahead

Its either sabotage or a serious drop in in morale/discipline at ISRO (or) both

If we recall the Stuxnet worm, it was so sophisticated that all the accidents looked random. Its entirely possible that some deep-state actors are at play. Even if failures have different root-causes, it does not rule out sabotage. It could probably be an advanced form of sabotage

Plus, ISRO needs a kick up its rear too. Focusing too much on vanity projects like Gaganyaan when strategic projects are dying on the vine. For comparison, China has 100s of milsats in orbit

Agree. It increasingly looks like other factors in play. Sophisticated sabotage.

[gakakkad]

I don't think anyone but massa or maybe cheen has a capability to pull this off . Or maybe there is an issue with third stage at the configuration needed for eos.

[A_Gupta]

Looks like VSSC has lost sight of its core mission.

Added: also, without the C61 failure report, the C62 mission should have been postponed.

[drnayar]

I don't think anyone but massa or maybe cheen has a capability to pull this off . Or maybe there is an issue with third stage at the configuration needed for eos.

All the failed missions were of strategic importance. When something looks like sabotage repeatedly it is likely one.

The EOS Satellites are multi spectral satellites to monitor the border and has early warning capabilities

Post sindhoor ops, this was high lighted as a capability gap.

Pakistani ISI and Chinese but more importantly American interference are likely. A small error can be induced into positioning systems with none wiser., can be third party private players.

ISRO needs to hive off it's strategic programs and let only whetted people work in those. This is no longer a civilian issue., but of critical national security.

The Indian GPS constellation is nowhere near completion.

I would rather postpone the space station and build up the GPS and early warning network satellites.

[bala]

Clearly sabotage is at play. ISRO and GOI need to get to the root of this nonsense and clean up the system quickly. Such strategic assets cannot be trusted to anyone and private players are fraught with infiltration issues. Way back remember the Nambi Narayanan episode with Kerala state police for liquid propulsion systems and Russia. Princeling and SoreAss factions are alive in India.

[drnayar]

Clearly sabotage is at play. ISRO and GOI need to get to the root of this nonsense and clean up the system quickly. Such strategic assets cannot be trusted to anyone and private players are fraught with infiltration issues. Way back remember the Nambi Narayanan episode with Kerala state police for liquid propulsion systems and Russia. Princeling and SoreAss factions are alive in India.

More so in the southern states !

[akashganga]

I hope this PSLV failure does not lead to year long delay of next PSLV launch. I have watched several spaceX launch failures and within few days of failure spacex will conduct another launch. Sabotage is possible but the cause is more likely to be technical failure. I do not understand why funding for ISRO is so low when ISRO is strategically so important. They should double funding for ISRO. Space X and and other resuable launch providers are cheaper than even ISRO. Not sure if ISRO is even working on reusing of stages like space X. China has already started testing reusing of stages though their two attempts failed late last year. The only way to survive in the launch market is to have at least partially reusable launch vehicles and reducing costs. ISRO has not even launched semi cryo even though they have been working on this for many years. I will not blame ISRO scientists and engineers for failure. With limited budget they have done wonders.

[A_Gupta]

^^^ SpaceX business model is mass production of rocket engines will reduce the unit cost; reusability will add to cost savings; the frequent launches needed for the constellation of low earth orbit satellites for StarLink will use these rockets; StarLink is the first of several enterprises to help pay for all this. (1-2 StarLink satellites are decommissioned each day.)

Even without reusability, India (private sector maybe) has to get the economies of scale of mass production.

[Jay]

We should be able to absorb cost and still proceed with space launches and should not be beholden to cost accounting for something as strategic as space race. Unfortunately we are and this is showing in ISRO's dwindling launch capabilities. We are neglecting one strategic space after another in the name of efficiencies and in the end we will neither be efficient, nor achieve what we want. Truly moronic stuff from us.

[akashganga]

Yes ISRO's launch capabilities are dwindling. US and Chinese are way ahead. I wont be surprised if in the next few years South Korea launches more space launches than India. All new launch vehicles in the US are now at least designed to reuse first stage. Space X is nearing fully reusable ones. ISRO instead is going for russian RD 191 which is old and not reusable. PSLV is more than 30 years old and is still being used. Even private players like Agnikul, and skyroot are not talking reuse. Space is most important in the future.

[A_Gupta]

IMO, having an ultra-reliable launch vehicle makes up for extra cost. What is lost in two consecutive failures is the reputation for reliability.

For competing for commercial launches, yes, cost is important. For national security missions, as long as the launcher is affordable (as PSLV is) the reliability is way more important.

As far as I can tell, India built only one copy of EOS-N1, so its replacement will have to be built from scratch, which means months and months before a replacement satellite is ready. And then it has to be launched and put into orbit. From a military readiness perspective, IMO, this is a huge setback. How much less effective will OpSindoor 2.0 be without this hyperspectral eye in the sky?

[SSridhar]

Isro sees warning in two consecutive PSLV failures - Chethan Kumar, ToI

Any space agency will tell you that every rocket launch comes with anxious moments, no matter what the record is. Yet, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) failing twice in consecutive attempts won't be easy for Isro to digest given its workhorse's record.

PSLV has had 64 missions, of which four, including Monday's PSLV-C62, failed to put the spacecraft in orbit, and one in 1997 placed the payload on a lower orbit than the intended one. When a launcher is seen as proven, scrutiny can soften. But back-to-back failures need to be treated as a structural warning - not bad luck - as they suggest deeper issues, whether with quality control, supply chains, testing protocols, or configuration management.

When PSLV-C61 failed last year, it brought down the rocket's success rate from 95.2% to 93.7%. Now, it has slipped further. Isro told TOI on Monday that the failures have affected the collective morale of the team. "It would have been different if any other launcher failed, but a PSLV failure worries us," said a scientist.

An analysis of setbacks shows that PSLV-C62's failure could have been caused by unresolved issues from the failed PSLV-C61 on May 18, 2025.

In both cases, PS3, or the third stage - a solid motor that provides a high-energy boost after the second stage burnout - suffered a glitch.

While Isro has not made the previous failure analysis committee (FAC) report public, TOI has learnt there was a fall in chamber pressure of the motor case. The PSLV-C62 will now be analysed by another FAC. Isro said there was disturbance in the "roll rate" during the final stages of PS3 burning on Monday, and that caused a deviation.

Failures before 2025 all point to different glitches. The first setback was on Sept 20, 1993 when PSLV-D1, the rocket's first mission, failed due to a guidance system error during the separation of PS2 (a liquid stage).

Isro launched again on Oct 15, 1994, and thereon PSLV showed no glitch until Sept 29, 1997, when PSLV-C1 mission became a "partial success". Here, the pressure regulator on PS4 (which uses twin liquid engines) failed, resulting in the satellite being placed in a lower-than-intended orbit.

The 1997 glitch has not repeated. The next failure came 20 years later, in Aug 2017, when the PSLV-C39 mission failed. In this case, the problem was with the heat shield, which has since been rectified. After the PSLV-C39 mission, the launch vehicle had 21 successful flights before the failure last year, followed by Monday's.

[sanjaykumar]

I believe it is industry practice to have a redundant satellite on hand. For such contingencies.

Why do the ‘tandora’ for hyperspectral imaging defence capabilities? And invite potential sabotage.

Or knowing how things can work it may have been a run of the mill payload. Perhaps you designed to ferret out sabotage.

[A_Gupta]

I believe it is industry practice to have a redundant satellite on hand. For such contingencies.

Yes, but if there is one for this satellite, it has not been mentioned in public, as far as I can ascertain.

[csaurabh]

A failure in PS-3 two times in a row is a real cause of concern. Is it a coincidence that it is happening now after the PS-3 motor case manufacturing was outsourced? (Previously done within ISRO). Also this particular industry (I won't put the name here) quoted an absurdly low price, less than 1/3 of realistic market value, and as according to Govt rules, whoever quotes the lowest gets the order. Another coincidence? It seemed strange to us at the time because this particular industry is well known for charging really high when they can (speaking from direct experience). Did they have any ulterior motives for quoting that low?

-- Full conspiracy theory hat on --

If I were to manufacture an error very specific to the one that is observed (motor pressure dropping sharply towards the end of the burn), it would not be that hard. All I would need to do is to make a small patch of insulation not properly bonded to the case or replace a small patch with a similar looking material which does not have that insulation property. This error would be very difficult to detect on non-destructive testing scans or in proof pressure tests. So when the rocket actually fires, as the burn profile progresses at some point it will hit the fake insulation and burn through it, thus creating a pathway for the hot gases to escape and drop the chamber pressure. While it may not cause a catastrophic explosion, the resulting loss of performance would still be enough to cause a mission failure.

Rocket engineering is full of a lot of 'for the want of a nail the battle was lost' type of problems. Now imagine someone is removing nails on purpose.

ISRO may need to reconsider the decisions taken in the last 2 years to outsource 'production' and focus on 'science'. The PSLV still remains the country's main gateway into space. Other organizations (commercial and DRDO) are not there yet.

[drnayar]

[drnayar]

A failure in PS-3 two times in a row is a real cause of concern. Is it a coincidence that it is happening now after the PS-3 motor case manufacturing was outsourced? (Previously done within ISRO). Also this particular industry (I won't put the name here) quoted an absurdly low price, less than 1/3 of realistic market value, and as according to Govt rules, whoever quotes the lowest gets the order. Another coincidence? It seemed strange to us at the time because this particular industry is well known for charging really high when they can (speaking from direct experience). Did they have any ulterior motives for quoting that low?

-- Full conspiracy theory hat on --

If I were to manufacture an error very specific to the one that is observed (motor pressure dropping sharply towards the end of the burn), it would not be that hard. All I would need to do is to make a small patch of insulation not properly bonded to the case or replace a small patch with a similar looking material which does not have that insulation property. This error would be very difficult to detect on non-destructive testing scans or in proof pressure tests. So when the rocket actually fires, as the burn profile progresses at some point it will hit the fake insulation and burn through it, thus creating a pathway for the hot gases to escape and drop the chamber pressure. While it may not cause a catastrophic explosion, the resulting loss of performance would still be enough to cause a mission failure.

Rocket engineering is full of a lot of 'for the want of a nail the battle was lost' type of problems. Now imagine someone is removing nails on purpose.

ISRO may need to reconsider the decisions taken in the last 2 years to outsource 'production' and focus on 'science'. The PSLV still remains the country's main gateway into space. Other organizations (commercial and DRDO) are not there yet.

Absolutely, take off the military launches from ISRO to DRDO. better still have a seperate military launching pad. Classify sub contractors and vendors on security clearances. Only those cleared should bid for military satellites and used for military space craft launches.

Also on a different note the GOI need to provide free insurance for private launches and spacecraft. I thought the LIC did.

[ramana]

Isro sees warning in two consecutive PSLV failures - Chethan Kumar, ToI

Any space agency will tell you that every rocket launch comes with anxious moments, no matter what the record is. Yet, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) failing twice in consecutive attempts won't be easy for Isro to digest given its workhorse's record.

PSLV has had 64 missions, of which four, including Monday's PSLV-C62, failed to put the spacecraft in orbit, and one in 1997 placed the payload on a lower orbit than the intended one. When a launcher is seen as proven, scrutiny can soften. But back-to-back failures need to be treated as a structural warning - not bad luck - as they suggest deeper issues, whether with quality control, supply chains, testing protocols, or configuration management.

When PSLV-C61 failed last year, it brought down the rocket's success rate from 95.2% to 93.7%. Now, it has slipped further. Isro told TOI on Monday that the failures have affected the collective morale of the team. "It would have been different if any other launcher failed, but a PSLV failure worries us," said a scientist.

An analysis of setbacks shows that PSLV-C62's failure could have been caused by unresolved issues from the failed PSLV-C61 on May 18, 2025.

In both cases, PS3, or the third stage - a solid motor that provides a high-energy boost after the second stage burnout - suffered a glitch.

While Isro has not made the previous failure analysis committee (FAC) report public, TOI has learnt there was a fall in chamber pressure of the motor case. The PSLV-C62 will now be analysed by another FAC. Isro said there was disturbance in the "roll rate" during the final stages of PS3 burning on Monday, and that caused a deviation.

Failures before 2025 all point to different glitches. The first setback was on Sept 20, 1993 when PSLV-D1, the rocket's first mission, failed due to a guidance system error during the separation of PS2 (a liquid stage).

Isro launched again on Oct 15, 1994, and thereon PSLV showed no glitch until Sept 29, 1997, when PSLV-C1 mission became a "partial success". Here, the pressure regulator on PS4 (which uses twin liquid engines) failed, resulting in the satellite being placed in a lower-than-intended orbit.

The 1997 glitch has not repeated. The next failure came 20 years later, in Aug 2017, when the PSLV-C39 mission failed. In this case, the problem was with the heat shield, which has since been rectified. After the PSLV-C39 mission, the launch vehicle had 21 successful flights before the failure last year, followed by Monday's.

This guy is a joker and not connected to the failure investigation team.

In order to understand the PSLV C62 failure I used Gemini AI to identify the root cause and found that :

a) The C-62 failure is an RCS thruster failure leading to a roll anomaly, whereas the C-61 failure is a motor case breach leading to a drop in pressure.

b) Using simple math was able to calculate the roll rate of the as flies PSLV( including the spent PS-3 and PS-4 and the satellites.) It came to a rotation of 12 RPM by the end of the third stage flight.

c) There was a post on X of the ISRO video feed of the onboard camera on PS-3. Using the time sequence, AI was able to estimate the rotation to a fairly accurate degree.

d) The most probable cause is a 50N thruster valve in the RCS that stuck closed causing the flight failure. The RCS is used for PS-4 coasting flight and roll control of the PS-3 during flight.

Here is a link to the Gemini AI interaction.

I made it simple to understand and lead up to the conclusion, and confirmed with the X video of the postulated failure scenario.

Link: https://gemini.google.com/share/f25354f1eef2

Feel free to comment.

[ramana]

Link: https://orbitaltoday.com/2026/01/16/spa ... e_vignette

India’s PSLV-C62 Failed With Third Stage Likely Intact; No Explosion
Space
16 January 2026


The third stage of India’s ill-fated PSLV-C62 rocket, which veered off its intended flight path on January 12, 2026, does not appear to have exploded and was likely intact when it went down, according to informed sources.

Related: UPDATE: India’s PSLV Fails To Put Spy Sat In Orbit

A former senior official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), speaking on condition of anonymity, said engineers are still examining the telemetry and flight data. “The officials are studying the data generated during the rocket’s flight. Meetings are ongoing,” the person said, adding, “There is no evidence of a stage explosion. The stage appears to be intact.”

The PSLV-C62’s solid-fuel third stage ignited about four minutes after liftoff and later shut down. However, this behaviour has raised questions among experts.

“Once ignited, a solid-fuel stage burns to completion; it does not shut down midway. This is something strange,” said a retired senior ISRO official who declined to be named.

Another rocket expert noted that, based on the publicly broadcast video, the failure bears similarities to the PSLV-C61 mishap. “The failure of PSLV-C62 seems similar to that of PSLV-C61,” the expert said, requesting anonymity.

On May 18, 2025, PSLV-C61 failed mid-flight while carrying EOS-09, a strategic Earth-observation satellite equipped with synthetic aperture radar. The satellite, comparable to EOS-04 launched in 2022, was intended to enhance India’s surveillance capabilities. The estimated loss from that mission was around ₹850 crore.

Unlike earlier failures, ISRO did not release the report of the Failure Analysis Committee that investigated the PSLV-C61 accident. According to sources, one of the recommendations following that failure was to replace the third stage’s graphite nozzle with a carbon–carbon composite nozzle.

The proposed change was aimed at addressing potential “burn-through” issues associated with graphite, while also reducing weight and improving structural strength. In rocketry, burn-through refers to catastrophic structural failure when superheated combustion gases breach the motor casing or nozzle, leading to melting, loss of thrust control, and possible explosion.

Sources say ISRO implemented this recommendation and used a carbon–carbon composite nozzle in the third stage of PSLV-C62.

A lame horse or a new ‘naughty boy’?

The more troubling question now being raised is whether ISRO’s long-reliable workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), is beginning to falter.

These concerns stem from a string of failures affecting missions tied to India’s strategic interests. For years, ISRO insiders informally referred to the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as the “naughty boy” because of its chequered early record. Now, some fear that label may be shifting to the PSLV.

The latest setback

The most recent failure occurred on Monday morning when the PSLV-DL variant, designated PSLV-C62, was launched carrying Anvesha (EOS-N1), a strategic hyperspectral satellite. The rocket deviated from its planned trajectory and tumbled after an apparent cut-off in the solid-fuel third stage.

ISRO Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space, Dr V. Narayanan, said the vehicle experienced a disturbance toward the end of the third-stage burn, though the first two stages performed normally.

“Towards the end of the third-stage performance, there was a deviation in the vehicle’s trajectory,” Narayanan said, adding that data from ground stations would be analysed before conclusions were drawn.

However, unlike some of his predecessors, Narayanan left the media centre without taking questions.

Déjà vu

The parallels with PSLV-C61 are difficult to ignore. In May 2025, the XL variant of the PSLV lifted off carrying the 1,696.24-kg radar imaging satellite RISAT-1B. About six minutes into the flight—shortly after third-stage ignition—the vehicle visibly veered off course.

At the time, Narayanan said an “observation” was made during third-stage performance and noted a drop in chamber pressure, though ISRO never clarified the precise nature of the anomaly.

A former senior ISRO official suggested the problem could have stemmed from a faulty main valve, a redundant valve, or another component leading to the pressure drop.

A worrying pattern

The PSLV-C62 failure marks the third consecutive setback involving strategically significant missions.

In January 2025, the 2,250-kg navigation satellite NVS-02 was successfully placed into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit but later became stranded when a pyro valve failed to open, preventing oxidiser flow despite normal fuel pump operation. A faulty electrical connector was cited as a possible cause, but the final Failure Analysis Committee report was never made public.

This lack of disclosure represents a departure from ISRO’s earlier tradition of transparency.

Cause for concern

The PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle that alternates between solid and liquid propulsion: solid-fuel first and third stages, and liquid-fuel second and fourth stages. The failed PSLV-C62 belonged to the PSLV-DL configuration.

Apart from four failures—its maiden flight in 1993, the 2017 mission where the heat shield failed to open, and the two recent failures in May 2025 and January 2026—the PSLV has maintained an enviable success record, launching dozens of Indian and foreign satellites.

ISRO has previously demonstrated extreme caution, even dismantling a fully assembled PSLV to inspect a second-stage component.

While the recent failures may marginally affect ISRO’s standing in the global small- and medium-satellite launch market, the more serious issue is the repeated loss of missions critical to national security.

Whether these setbacks are temporary or indicative of deeper systemic problems is a question ISRO will now need to answer—clearly and convincingly.

“Once can be called an accident, twice a failure—but what do you call it the third time?” asked a retired senior ISRO official.

“There seems to be no clear fixation of accountability when missions involving hundreds of crores of taxpayers’ money are lost,” the official added.

Last updated: 16th Jan 2026

I wish ISRO would recommend axing the pensions of these leeches who are giving a bad name without adding value with their comments.
Very clearly, C61 was a propulsion failure and was investigated and a new nozzle was installed for C-62.
By looking at the timeline of C-62 flight, it did not have a propulsion failure. A loss of thrust does not induce a roll anomaly.
These retired warhorses should shut up and refer to ISRO for comments. Giving bokwas gnan won't get them reinstated. Let the younger engineers do their work and assist if you can.
BTW to have failure investigated and corrective action in time for next flight within 7 months is gangbusters.
Kudos to Chairman Narayanan for the rapid response.
May 2025 C-61 failure. Jan 12 2026, C-62 ready to fly with corrective action.

[ramana]

A lesson in space launches is that every launch is important.
Past success does not guarantee present success nor future success.

[pravula]

Past success does not guarantee present success nor future success.

Only because the every launch is a custom job, with everything new.

[chetak]

It is a huge setback for @OrbitAID. They were supposed to demonstrate India's first on-orbit internal propellant transfer, which is a critical technology.

Also @DhruvaSpace lost their thybolt-3. Hope they recover and come back quickly.

ISRO needs to bounce back. India as at an inflection point in space. Such failures add more friction to the growth. We need a more transparent @isro.