ISRO’s earth observation mission fails, third such failure of PSLV since 1993

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) launch of PSLV-C61, aimed at deploying the earth observation satellite EOS-09 into a sun-synchronous polar orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), failed on Sunday.

“Today, 101st launch was attempted, PSLV-C61 performance was normal till 2nd stage. Due to an observation in the 3rd stage, the mission could not be accomplished,” ISRO said.

ISRO has not released any official statement. However, sources say they are analysing the issue on what led to the failure.

The satellite, E0S-09, was equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar payload to deliver high-definition images for earth observation applications under all-weather conditions, significantly enhancing India’s surveillance capabilities.

The satellite was to be placed into a Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit. This orbit allows consistent imagery for reconnaissance, weather pattern analysis and disaster monitoring, including floods and wildfires.

This is the third failure of PSLV mission since its inception in 1993.

In 1993, the software error in the guidance and control system and a malfunction in the retro-rockets led to mission’s failure.

Recently, in 2017 the payload fairing did not separate, which left the satellite trapped inside the rocket.