PSLV-C62 Failure: Centre Orders High-Level Probe

The move follows a quiet visit by National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

The government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the recent failure of the Indian Space Research Organisation's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which was carrying a strategic payload, according to reliable sources.

The panel will be chaired by K Vijay Raghavan, former principal scientific adviser to the prime minister, with S Somanath, former ISRO chairman, serving as co-chairman.

The move follows a quiet visit by National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

On January 12, 2026, ISRO's PSLV-C62 mission, carrying the strategic hyperspectral satellite Avnesha (EOS-N1), failed during flight.

Along with EOS-N1, 15 other satellites from Indian and international customers were lost.

ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the vehicle encountered a disturbance toward the end of the third stage.

While the first two stages performed nominally, a deviation in trajectory occurred near the completion of the third-stage burn.

An internal ISRO committee has been examining flight data to determine the root cause.

The PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle that alternates between solid and liquid propulsion: The first and third stages use solid propellant, while the second and fourth stages are liquid-fuelled.

In a new development, evidence suggests that the fourth stage may have ignited even as the vehicle was descending.

Spanish space company Orbital Paradigm, which had launched its Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) aboard the rocket, stated in its post-flight report titled 'The KID Survived' that the fourth stage began thrusting after separating from the third stage despite the vehicle already being on a downward trajectory.

However, the company said it lacks trajectory data for that phase of flight and does not have precise information on when and where the upper stage -- carrying KID -- re-entered the atmosphere to around 120 km altitude.

Third Consecutive Setback

The January 2026 setback appears similar to the failure of PSLV-C61 in May 2025. "The failure of PSLV-C62 seems to mirror that of its predecessor PSLV-C61," a rocket expert said on condition of anonymity.

In May 2025, the PSLV-XL variant (PSLV-C61) lifted off with the 1,696.24-kg earth observation satellite RISAT-1B. Roughly six minutes into flight, shortly after third-stage ignition, the vehicle deviated from its intended path.

At the time, Narayanan said the first two stages had performed as expected, but an 'observation' during the third stage prevented the EOS-09 mission from being completed. He later confirmed a drop in third-stage chamber pressure.

A former senior ISRO official suggested the third-stage anomaly could have stemmed from a faulty primary or redundant valve, or another component that caused the pressure drop.

The PSLV-C62 failure marks the third consecutive setback involving missions tied to India's strategic interests.

In January 2025, the 2,250-kg navigation satellite NVS-02 was placed in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit but became stranded after a pyro valve failed to open and feed oxidiser to the engines, despite the fuel pumps functioning normally.

A defect in an electrical connector is suspected, though the exact cause remains unclear.

The report of the Failure Analysis Committee headed by former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar, set up to examine the NVS-02 anomaly, has yet to be made public -- a departure from ISRO's earlier practice.

The string of failures in strategically significant missions has raised serious concerns within the space establishment.

"Once it is an accident, twice it is a failure -- and the third time?" a retired senior ISRO official remarked, questioning the absence of accountability when missions worth hundreds of crores of taxpayers' money are lost.

Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff