India's satellite launch mission failed! PSLV rocket suffers failure for the second consecutive time

India's space ambitions have encountered a significant setback, as its main launch vehicle experienced a malfunction during a critical military and commercial launch mission, resulting in a strategically significant military satellite and multiple commercial payloads failing to reach their intended orbits. This marks the second consecutive failure for this type of rocket, raising concerns about the reliability of its launch system.

According to CCTV News, citing Indian sources, on January 12 local time, the multi-satellite launch mission executed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) encountered anomalies after liftoff. The rocket exhibited significant deviations in its trajectory during flight, and officials subsequently confirmed that the launch mission had officially failed.

This mission carried a military Earth observation satellite codenamed EOS-N1 along with 15 other payloads. This incident not only signifies the loss of expensive on-orbit assets but also marks a rare consecutive blow to the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), known as India's "workhorse" in space. The last flight of this rocket was in May 2025, which also ended in failure, resulting in the destruction of the EOS-09 satellite.

Currently, the Indian space agency is conducting an urgent analysis of telemetry data to determine the specific cause of the malfunction. This series of failures may negatively impact India's efforts to capture a share of the global commercial satellite launch market and also delay the deployment of its military space-based surveillance network.

Third Stage Rocket Anomaly

According to media reports, the PSLV rocket was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India at 11:48 PM Eastern Time on Sunday (10:18 AM Indian Standard Time on Monday). However, during a critical phase of the flight, the rocket did not operate as planned.

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan revealed details of the malfunction during a live update of the launch. He stated:

“As the third stage rocket (engine burn) was nearing its end, we observed significant disturbances in the roll rate of the launch vehicle, and subsequently, deviations in the flight path were noted.” He added that the institutions are analyzing the data and will provide feedback on the results as soon as possible.

It is worth noting that this incident bears similarities to the failure in May 2025, when an anomaly also occurred during the third stage of the PSLV rocket's burn. If the final investigation confirms this as a complete failure, it will mark the fourth failure in the PSLV rocket's total of 64 launches. As a four-stage rocket that first flew in 1993, PSLV has successfully executed several high-profile missions, including the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe, the 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission, and the 2023 Aditya-L1 solar probe.

Strategic Asset Loss

The primary asset loss resulting from this launch failure is the small Earth observation satellite codenamed EOS-N1 (also known as Anvesha). According to multiple sources, this is a hyperspectral imaging satellite designed to study the Earth across hundreds of different light wavebands, with the Indian military as its main user. Reports indicate that the satellite is intended to continuously scan the surface and send back images that can generate valuable intelligence.

In addition to the military payload, this mission was organized by ISRO's commercial arm, NewSpace India Limited, marking the agency's ninth commercial mission. Accompanying the loss are 15 other commercial and scientific payloads involving multiple international clients.

These payloads include an Earth observation satellite developed in collaboration between Thailand and the UK, a Brazilian satellite aimed at assisting distressed fishing vessels, an in-orbit refueling demonstration payload conducted by an Indian company, and a re-entry capsule from the Spanish startup Orbital Paradigm.

Except for the re-entry capsule named KID (Kestrel Initial technology Demonstrator), all payloads were originally planned to enter low Earth orbit. The capsule was scheduled to separate from the PSLV's fourth stage in the later phase of flight and re-enter the Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific. The failure of this launch means that these commercial validation and scientific projects have been forced to halt