{"id":82289,"date":"2026-01-13T12:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=82289"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:04:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:34:54","slug":"pslv-mission-failures-what-consecutive-setbacks-mean-for-isro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/pslv-mission-failures-what-consecutive-setbacks-mean-for-isro\/","title":{"rendered":"PSLV Mission Failures: What Consecutive Setbacks Mean for ISRO"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>PSLV Mission Failures Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian Space Research Organisation\u2019s first launch of the year ended in failure when the <\/span><b>PSLV-C62 mission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> carrying 16 satellites failed to reach its intended orbit.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This marks the second consecutive failure of the PSLV, ISRO\u2019s workhorse launch vehicle for over three decades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In both the January 2026 failure and the earlier setback (PSLV-C61 in May 2025), the rocket performed normally through the first two stages but developed problems during the <\/span><b>third stage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is critical for achieving orbital velocity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The previous failure was attributed to an unexpected drop in combustion chamber pressure, though the Failure Analysis Committee report was not made public. While the cause of the latest failure is yet to be confirmed, it is suspected to be similar.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A pressure drop during the third stage reduces thrust, preventing the rocket from attaining the acceleration required to sustain orbit around the Earth.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>PSLV: How India\u2019s Workhorse Rocket Reaches Orbit<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is a <\/span><b>four-stage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> launch vehicle, with each stage using its own engine and fuel to sequentially propel the mission before detaching once its role is complete.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>First Stage: Lift-off and Atmospheric Ascent<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first stage handles lift-off and a near-vertical climb to about 50\u201360 km.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using <\/span><b>solid propellant<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it overcomes gravity and atmospheric drag, consuming massive fuel in under two minutes before being jettisoned.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Second Stage: Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Powered by the indigenously developed <\/span><b>Vikas engine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and a <\/span><b>liquid fuel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><b>second stage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> continues ascent while building horizontal velocity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes the rocket to roughly 220\u2013250 km altitude and accelerates it to about 14,000 km\/h, significantly reducing overall mass.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Third Stage: Rapid Acceleration<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this phase, the vehicle moves almost entirely horizontally on a sub-orbital path.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Burning <\/span><b>solid fuel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the third stage rapidly accelerates the rocket to orbital speeds of around 26,000\u201328,000 km\/h\u2014crucial for preventing it from falling back to Earth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third stage is, therefore, about rapid acceleration. The PSLV rocket burns solid fuel to achieve this.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Fourth Stage: Precise Orbital Insertion<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The final stage uses <\/span><b>liquid propulsion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to precisely place satellites into their designated low-Earth orbits, typically between 250 and 2,000 km.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once payload deployment is complete, all stages have separated, having fulfilled their roles.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Critical Role of PSLV\u2019s Third Stage<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third stage is one of the most delicate phases of a launch.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the rocket fails to achieve the required velocity, it cannot sustain orbit and is pulled back by Earth\u2019s gravity, as seen in the PSLV-C61 failure last year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this stage, <\/span><b>solid fuel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> burns and turns into gas, increasing pressure inside the combustion chamber.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The high-pressure gas exits through a nozzle, producing thrust that rapidly accelerates the rocket to near-orbital speeds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Higher chamber pressure results in greater thrust and acceleration. Any pressure drop\u2014due to leakage or other faults\u2014reduces thrust, preventing the rocket from attaining the speed needed to maintain orbit.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>What Went Wrong Earlier<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year\u2019s failure was attributed to a <\/span><b>manufacturing defect<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that caused leakage and reduced pressure in the combustion chamber.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the latest failure is due to a similar issue, it could pose a reputational challenge for Indian Space Research Organisation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Fallout of Repeated PSLV Failures for ISRO<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Space missions allow little margin for error, and while failures are not uncommon globally, back-to-back setbacks involving the trusted PSLV are a serious concern for ISRO.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With three of its last six missions failing, ISRO faces an unusually high failure rate.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the PSLV is a key revenue generator through commercial and foreign launches, questions over its reliability could hurt both credibility and finances.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, ISRO\u2019s strong history of recovery from crises offers hope that it can restore confidence after the latest mission.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Bigger Picture<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless of the precise technical causes, the central concern is institutional.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By keeping the PSLV-C61 FAC (Failure Analysis Committee) report internal, ISRO avoided external scrutiny of its corrective measures and return-to-flight criteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launching PSLV-C62 just eight months after a major failure, without public disclosure of investigation findings, has intensified <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">questions about transparency, quality control, and risk management<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014now placing ISRO under sharper technical and reputational scrutiny.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/isro-second-failure-third-stage-pslv-c62-10469438\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a>| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/what-do-two-pslv-mission-failures-in-a-row-mean-for-isro-analysis\/article70500376.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/isro-launches-pslv-c62-kicks-off-indias-first-space-mission-of-2026-10468502\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"ytb-video-wrapper\">\n        <div class=\"ytb-video-inner\">\n            <iframe \n                src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jtCfY_0sa74\" \n                width=\"560\" \n                height=\"315\" \n                frameborder=\"0\" \n                allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" \n                allowfullscreen>\n            <\/iframe>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PSLV mission failures in 2025\u201326 raise concerns over ISRO\u2019s quality control, third-stage reliability, transparency, and commercial credibility in global space markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":82308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,4701,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-82289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-pslv-mission-failures","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}