Officials announced on Sunday that India’s space agency’s mission to launch a new Earth observation satellite encountered a failure after the launch vehicle faced a technical issue during the third phase of its flight.
The Earth observation satellite EOS-09 was launched aboard the PSLV-C61 rocket from the space center in Sriharikota, southern India this morning.
The head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, V. Narayanan, stated, “During the third phase, there was a drop in engine chamber pressure, and as a result, the mission could not be completed successfully.”
India’s space exploration efforts have been active since the 1960s, successfully launching satellites for both its own needs and for other countries, including placing one into Martian orbit in 2014.
Following a failed lunar landing attempt in 2019, India made history in 2023 by becoming the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, targeting an uncharted region believed to contain deposits of frozen water. This mission has been celebrated as a significant technological achievement for the world’s most populous nation.