Technology & Science
ISRO’s ‘workhorse’ stumbles: PSLV-C62 loses Anvesha and 15 payloads after PS3 anomaly
On 12 Jan 2026, India’s PSLV-C62 veered off-course at the end of its solid-propellant third stage, dooming all 16 satellites on board and marking the rocket’s first full mission failure since 2017.
Focusing Facts
- The deviation occurred roughly 475 s into flight, during the PS3 burn, preventing orbit insertion of Anvesha (EOS-N1) and 15 co-passenger satellites.
- PSLV-C62 was the 64th PSLV flight and the fifth in the DL configuration; it followed a similar PS3-related anomaly on PSLV-C61 in May 2025.
- Seven of the lost satellites were built by Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space, the most contributions by a single Indian private firm to date.
Context
Launch failures are rare for PSLV—its last catastrophic loss was the IRNSS-1H mission in Aug 2017—so two PS3 anomalies inside eight months echo the Delta II string of upper-stage mishaps in 1995-97 that forced U.S. redesigns. The event spotlights a tension in today’s space economy: legacy national workhorses are being stretched to serve booming commercial and defence demand while facing rapid innovation cycles from private players (e.g., SpaceX’s weekly Starlink flights). India’s long arc from the 1963 sounding-rocket launch to Chandrayaan-3’s 2023 lunar landing has been one of incremental reliability; a cluster of failures could slow its bid to capture a projected 10 % share of the global launch market by 2030 and dent confidence in fledgling firms like Dhruva Space whose hardware was on board. On a century timescale this incident may be a footnote, yet the response—root-cause transparency, design fixes, or bureaucratic inertia—will signal whether ISRO evolves into a resilient commercial launcher akin to Europe’s Ariane post-Vega failures, or risks being bypassed in the dawning era of reusable, high-cadence launchers.
Perspectives
Mainstream national outlets highlighting the setback
India Today, LatestLY, The Statesman — Portray the anomaly as a significant mission failure and warn that consecutive PSLV problems threaten ISRO’s reputation for reliability. Dramatic language about “major failure” and “setback” suits attention-grabbing headlines and may overemphasise risk while giving limited weight to the rocket’s 90% success record.
Pro-government / nationalist Indian media
DNA India, OnManorama — Emphasise the PSLV’s long record of success, the DRDO surveillance payload, and private-sector participation, casting the anomaly as an unusual blip rather than a systemic issue. By foregrounding strategic capabilities and past triumphs, coverage soft-pedals recurring third-stage faults, reflecting an incentive to sustain public pride and support for the government’s space programme. ( Daily News and Analysis (DNA) India , OnManorama )
Wire-service based local outlets recycling official statements
newKerala.com, Free Press Journal — Simply relay ISRO’s notice of a third-stage deviation and the start of a data review, adding little interpretation or context. Dependence on official communiqués constrains critical analysis, potentially echoing institutional spin and omitting discussion of the mission’s wider impact or past failures.