The 101st launch of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) failed mid-flight during its third stage, just after taking off at the scheduled time of 5.59 am on Sunday.
The failure occurred during the third stage of the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C61). ISRO Chairman V Narayanan stated that while the first two stages performed normally, an “observation” was made during the functioning of the third stage. Initial observations point towards a “pressure issue” or a “fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case” within the third stage motor.
“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.”, confirmed ISRO on X.
Mission Objective
The Aditya-L1 mission was designed to study the Sun from a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. This location would have provided an unobstructed view of the Sun, allowing for continuous observation of solar activity and its impact on space weather. The mission carried seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (corona) in different wavebands.
Official Response and Next Steps
ISRO has acknowledged the mission failure and has stated that a thorough analysis of the third-stage anomaly will be conducted to understand the cause of the failure. While this is a setback for ISRO’s solar observation program, the agency has a strong track record of successful missions, and I anticipate further updates on the investigation and potential future attempts for the Aditya-L1 mission.
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