ISRO's PSLV-C62 Fails, Losing 16 Satellites

India's Indian Space Research Organisation suffered a setback in its space program on Monday when the PSLV-C62 rocket encountered an anomaly during its third stage, resulting in the loss of 16 satellites, including a primary Earth observation payload.

The four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 10:18 a.m. local time, carrying the EOS-N1 satellite developed for NewSpace India Limited, ISRO's commercial arm, along with 15 copassenger payloads from Indian startups, universities and international partners. The mission aimed to deploy the satellites into a 512-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, but the rocket deviated from its path about 374 seconds after liftoff, during the final moments of the solid-fueled third stage burn at an altitude of around 346 kilometers.

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan addressed the issue shortly after the event, stating that the vehicle's performance had been as expected up to the end of the third stage. "Close to the end of the third stage, we were seeing a little more disturbance in the vehicle roll rates, and subsequently, there was a deviation observed in the flight path," he said. "We are...