The Indian Space Research Organisation mentioned on Sunday (May 18, 2025) that it could not full its one hundred and first mission, the PSLV-C61/EOS-09, as a result of a technical glitch.
Minutes after the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C61), carrying the earth statement satellite tv for pc EOS-09, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5:59 a.m., the house company mentioned that the mission could not be “accomplished” as a result of a glitch within the third stage of the launch automobile. The PSLV was anticipated to put the satellite tv for pc right into a Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO) 17 minutes after lift-off.
“The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle and second-stage performance was quite normal. The third stage’s motor started perfectly but during the functioning of the stage, we are seeing an observation and the mission could not be accomplished. After analysis, we shall come back,” ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan mentioned.
Mr. Narayanan later advised reporters that throughout the third stage, there “was a fall in chamber pressure in the motor case”, as a result of which the “mission could not be accomplished”.
The third stage of the PSLV is a strong rocket motor that gives the higher phases excessive thrust after the atmospheric part of the launch.
Former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath in a publish on X acknowledged, “I am aware of the formidable challenges we faced during the development of the third-stage solid motor — an endeavour marked by multiple failures. It is indeed unusual to witness such anomalies resurfacing at this stage. Nevertheless, I have complete confidence that the team will identify the root cause both swiftly and effectively.”
The C61 mission was additionally the 63rd flight of the PSLV and the twenty seventh within the PSLV-XL configuration.
Before Sunday’s (May 18, 2025) launch, the PSLV had suffered solely two failures since its first mission in 1993. The very first mission, PSLV-D1, could not place the IRS-1E satellite tv for pc in orbit and in 2017, the forty first flight of the launch automobile resulted in failure. Since then, all PSLV launches had been profitable with the earlier one being the SpaDeX mission in December 2024.
The setback of the PSLV-C61/EOS-09 mission follows the ISRO’s failure to carry out the meant orbit-raising operations for the NVS-02 satellite tv for pc as a result of a valve malfunction. The NVS-02 was launched on January 29 in what was the landmark one centesimal launch from Sriharikota.
Similar to the EOS-04 satellite tv for pc, EOS-09 was designed with the mission goal of making certain distant sensing knowledge for the person neighborhood engaged in operational purposes and to enhance the frequency of statement.
The house company mentioned that the spacecraft was configured utilizing ISRO’s RISAT-1 heritage bus, with many of the purposeful necessities of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload and the bus platform methods derived from the sooner ISRO missions.
The satellite tv for pc weighing 1,696.24 kg carries a SAR payload able to offering pictures for numerous earth statement purposes beneath all-weather circumstances. The EOS-09 was designed to supply steady and dependable distant sensing knowledge for operational purposes throughout numerous sectors and had a mission life of 5 years, the ISRO mentioned.
Published – May 18, 2025 06:57 am IST
