Why did ISRO’s landmark 101st satellite launch fail? Chairman Narayanan explains

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) failed in its landmark 101st satellite launch mission on Sunday after anomalies were found in the launch vehicle. Though the launch at 5.59am was successful, scientists noticed an "anomaly" in the third stage of ISRO’s trusted PSLV-C61 rocket, the space organisation said.

 

ISRO attempted the launch of 101st satellite mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on Sunday. The earth observation satellite—EOS-09—was launched onboard a PSLV-C61 rocket at 5.59am on Sunday. However, the mission was not accomplished after issues were found in the four-stage rocket after launch. According to ISRO, the PSLV is a four-stage rocket, and the first two stages were normal. Sunday’s mission marked 63rd flight of the PSLV.

 

ISRO chief V. Narayanan said, "Today we targeted the 101st launch from Sriharikota, the PSLVC61 EOS-09 mission. The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle, and up to the second stage, the performance was normal. The third stage motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation and the mission could not be accomplished,” PTI reported. “After analysis we shall come back," he added.

 

According to the space organisation, the EOS-09 is a repeat satellite similar to EOS-04, launched in 2022, that has been designed with the mission objective to ensure remote sensing data for the user community engaged in operational applications and to improve the frequency of observation.

 

The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) inside the EOS-09 satellite is capable of providing images for various earth observation applications under all-weather conditions day and night. This all-weather, round-the-clock, imaging is vital for applications, ranging from agriculture and forestry monitoring to disaster management, urban planning and national security.

 

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