BENGALURU: An Indian rocket carrying 16 payloads of equipment and experiments, including an Earth observation satellite, derailed after liftoff on Monday in another setback for the workhorse launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
It was the second disappointment for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in about eight months, tarnishing its reputation for reliability with a success rate of more than 90% over about 60 previous missions.
PSLV-C62 took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the island of Sriharikota at 10:18 (04488 GMT) with the EOS-N1 observation satellite and 15 other payloads developed by startups and academic institutions in India and abroad.
ISRO’s mission control said the rocket operated normally for most of the flight before an unexpected disturbance and deviation from its path.
“The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly at the end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated,” ISRO said in a statement, without giving further details about what had gone wrong or where the rocket ended up.
PSLV has been central to India’s space programme, having launched missions such as Chandrayaan-1 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory. It also supports India’s push to open up space manufacturing to private industry.
