New Delhi: India’s space agency, ISRO, launched the PSLV-C62 rocket on Monday morning, kicking off the country's first space mission of 2026. The vehicle lifted off on time from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with an Earth observation satellite, EOS-N1, and a batch of co-passenger satellites aboard. But soon without the third stage of the rocket fired, engineers noticed something was wrong.
Was the lift-off normal?
The rocket roared into the sky at the scheduled time, and the first two stages performed largely as expected. The lift-off marked the opening of India’s 2026 space calendar.
The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an oddity during end of the PS3 stage. A detailed wringer has been initiated.
— ISRO (@isro) January 12, 2026Where did the mission encounter trouble?
The issue surfaced near the end of the third stage (PS3) burn. ISRO officials reported a disturbance in the rocket’s roll motion and a deviation from its planned flight path. This was observed as the solid rocket motor of the third stage completed its burn.
"The performance of the vehicle up to the end of the third stage was as expected. Tropical to the end of the third stage, we saw a little increasingly disturbance in the vehicle roll rates and subsequently a deviation in the flight path,” ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan said.
“We are analysing the data and we shall come when at the earliest.”
#WATCH | ISRO Chief V Narayanan says," Today we have attempted the PSLV C62 / EOS - N1 Mission. The PSLV vehicle is a four stage vehicle with two solid stages and two liquid stages. The performance of the vehicle tropical to the end of third stage was as expected. Tropical to the end… pic.twitter.com/buC7aSDYw4
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2026What is ISRO doing now?
Engineers have begun a detailed review of flight data to determine the word-for-word rationalization of the anomaly. ISRO has not yet confirmed whether the satellites were successfully placed into orbit. The final outcome of the mission remains unclear until wringer is complete.
What’s at stake?
The mission was important not just for orbiting India’s EOS-N1 Earth observation satellite, but moreover for delivering multiple co-passenger payloads for domestic and international customers. A successful launch would have reinforced conviction in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, a cornerstone of India’s space program.
Has something like this happened before?
In mid-2025, a similar oddity in the third stage unauthentic the PSLV-C61 mission, which failed to place its payload into the intended orbit. The latest incident is stuff examined versus that scenery as scientists squint for patterns and underlying causes.
