Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh)

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday could not accomplish the launch of an Earth observation satellite onboard a PSLV-C61 rocket after it encountered some anomaly in its third stage, the space agency's Chairman V Narayanan said.

Today 101st launch was attempted, PSLV-C61 performance was normal till 2nd stage. Due to an observation in 3rd stage, the mission could not be accomplished.

— ISRO (@isro) May 18, 2025

ISRO's trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is a 4-stage rocket and the first two stages were normal, he said.

"Today we targeted the 101st launch from Sriharikota, the PSLVC61 EOS-09 mission. The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle and up to the second stage, the performance was normal. The third stage motor started perfectly but during the functioning of the third stage we are seeing an observation and the mission could not be accomplished," Narayanan said.

"After analysis we shall come back," he said in his brief address post the lift-off.

EOS-09 is a repeat satellite similar to EOS-04 launched in 2022 that has been designed with the mission objective to ensure remote sensing data for the user community engaged in operational applications and to improve the frequency of observation.

The mission's payload, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which is inside the satellite is capable of providing images for various earth observation applications under all-weather conditions day and night.

This all-weather, round-the-clock, imaging is vital for applications, ranging from agriculture and forestry monitoring to disaster management, urban planning and national security.

ALSO READ: Ajit Doval: Master spy, institution builder, patriot

The rocket was earlier launched at a prefixed time of 5.59 am.