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ISRO’s PSLV-C62/EOS-N1 Mission Experienced an Anomaly During the Third Stage

January 13, 2026 en

Brief Context

In News ISRO’s first launch of the year, the PSLV-C62 mission failed to place its 16 satellites into the intended orbit, marking the second consecutive failure of the long-reliable PSLV rocket. PSLV Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It has also been called “the workhorse of ISRO” for consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits with a high success rate.

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Syllabus :GS3/Space

In News

ISRO’s first launch of the year, the PSLV-C62 mission failed to place its 16 satellites into the intended orbit, marking the second consecutive failure of the long-reliable PSLV rocket.

The PSLV-C62 / EOS-N1 Mission

– PSLV-C62, the 64th flight of India’s PSLV and ninth commercial mission by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), aimed to launch the EOS-N1 Earth observation satellite along with 15 co-passenger satellites.
– EOS-N1 is an Earth observation satellite intended for environmental monitoring, resource mapping, and disaster management.
– The mission also carried a technology demonstration, the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) from a Spanish startup, a small re-entry vehicle prototype designed to return to Earth and provide data for future re-entry system development.

PSLV

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India.
It has also been called “the workhorse of ISRO” for consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits with a high success rate.
It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
It is a four-stage rocket in which each stage has its own engine and fuel.
- These stages operate one after another during flight, propelling the mission forward and then separating once their role is completed.

Stages

The first stage provides lift-off, overcoming gravity and air resistance using a powerful solid-fuel engine, and is jettisoned after about two minutes.
The second stage, powered by the liquid-fuel Vikas engine, continues the climb and accelerates the rocket to high speeds at around 220–250 km altitude.
In the third stage, solid fuel is used to rapidly increase horizontal speed, placing the vehicle on a sub-orbital path.
The fourth and final stage, using liquid propulsion, precisely manoeuvres and places the satellite into its designated low-Earth orbit.

Major launches

After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India.
In addition to launching satellites into LEO, PSLV has also launched satellites for communication, meteorology, navigation, scientific experiments and space exploration missions.
The PSLV successfully launched two spacecrafts- Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013 that later travelled to Moon and Mars respectively.
It also launched India’s first space observatory, Astrosat.

Do you know?

– The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is India’s largest fourth-generation launch vehicle, designed to overcome the limitations of the PSLV by carrying heavier payloads to higher orbits.
– GSLV is a three-stage vehicle with four liquid strap-ons, a solid rocket motor, and a cryogenic upper stage, capable of delivering up to 1,750 kg to low Earth orbit (up to 600 km) and smaller payloads to Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
– GSLVs use cryogenic engines with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, providing greater thrust than earlier launch vehicles.
– Its advanced variant, LVM-3 (formerly GSLV Mk III), employs solid, liquid, and cryogenic engines, carrying up to 8,000 kg to low Earth orbit (up to 2,000 km) and 4,000 kg to geosynchronous orbit (36,000 km), earning the nickname ‘Bahubali’ for its payload capacity.
LVM-3’s first successful mission was in 2017 with GSAT-19, followed by Chandrayaan-2 in 2019 and Chandrayaan-3 in 2023.
– ISRO is developing its heaviest rocket, the Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV), expected by 2035, to support future lunar missions, including India’s first human Moon mission planned for 2040.

Source :TH