Indian rocket loses control after launch in second setback in eight months

India suffered another setback in its space programme on Monday after a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying multiple payloads veered off its planned course shortly after launch, officials said.

The rocket was carrying 16 payloads, including an Earth observation satellite, when the problem occurred.

The incident marked the second issue involving the PSLV in the past eight months, raising questions about the reliability of a launch vehicle that has long been considered ISRO’s most dependable, with a success record of over 90 per cent across more than 60 missions.

The PSLV-C62 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 10:18am local time. On board were the EOS-N1 surveillance satellite along with 15 other experiments and instruments developed by Indian and international startups and academic institutions.

ISRO officials said that the rocket followed its planned trajectory for most of the mission before suffering a sudden disturbance that caused it to deviate from its intended path.

In a brief statement, the space agency said the mission faced an anomaly towards the end of the PS3 stage and that a detailed investigation was under way.

No immediate information was provided about the exact cause of the failure or the final status of the payloads.

The PSLV has played a key role in India’s space ambitions over the years, having been used for major missions such as Chandrayaan-1 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory.