India’s 101st space mission was hit by a setback on Sunday morning when the PSLV-C61 rocket carrying the EOS-09 satellite prematurely malfunctioned during its third stage. The launch had gone off as scheduled at 5:59 a.m. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota but was unable to be completed successfully as it faced a technical snag.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed that the mission went as per plan until the second stage. But during the third of four stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), a snag developed, which resulted in the failure of the mission.
On 18th May 2025, the 101st launch attempt, PSLV-C61 performance was normal up to the 2nd stage. Because of an observation in the 3rd stage, the mission could not be completed,” ISRO stated in a release.
Chairman V Narayanan detailed the failure further, attributing a pressure drop in the third stage motor as the cause. “Today, we aimed for the 101st launch from Sriharikota, the PSLVC61 EOS-09 mission. The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle, and until the second stage, the performance was normal. The third stage motor began splendidly, but while the third stage was in operation, we are observing something,” he added.
“And the motor pressure–there was a drop in the chamber pressure of the motor case, and the mission could not be achieved. We are analyzing the overall performance, we shall return at the earliest,” he further said, PTI reports.
The goal was to put the EOS-09 satellite in a Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO). EOS-09, which is a repeat of the previous EOS-04 mission, was designed to deliver remote sensing information to user groups for operational uses and to enhance observation frequency.
If it had been successful, the mission would have employed Orbit Change Thrusters (OCT) to reduce the PS4 stage altitude following satellite deployment. This would be accompanied by passivation to truncate the orbital life of the PS4.
With a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, EOS-09 was meant to provide high-resolution imagery for earth observation missions under any weather conditions.
ISRO has ordered a thorough probe into the third stage anomaly to find out the root cause and avoid such problems in future missions.
