3 months ago
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A committee that includes K. VijayRaghavan, erstwhile Principal Scientific Advisor, and S. Somanath, erstwhile Chairman, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), volition probe “systemic issues” underlying the successive failures of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
While method committees probe and taxable ‘failure investigation reports’ erstwhile mishaps occur, this committee, The Hindu has reliably learnt, volition analyse questions connected whether “organisational” problems whitethorn person played a relation successful the debacles involving the PSLV.
On January 12, 2026 the PSLV-C62 failed successful its ngo to present 16 satellites into orbit, and crashed into the oversea aft the 3rd signifier of the rocket failed to ignite. This was akin to the May 18, 2025 nonaccomplishment of the PSLV-C61, successful which, too, the 3rd signifier failed to fire, destroying arsenic a effect the EOS-09 outer intended for the government’s strategical needs.
The committee members dwell of experts who are outer to the ISRO, and are expected to array their findings to ISRO Chairman, V. Narayanan, earlier April. On February 3, 2026, The Hindu reported that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is besides a subordinate of India’s Space Commission, visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, reportedly successful transportation with the nonaccomplishment of the PSLV-C62 mission.
”A national-level adept committee has been constituted and is reviewing the crushed for the anomaly successful the PSLV vehicle,” the ISRO said successful a connection to The Hindu.
The PSLV’s failures would beryllium the halfway absorption of the report, and the committee would beryllium looking into the processes successful the manufacture, procurement, and assembling of assorted components of the rocket. This has implications for different rockets, too, The Hindu was told, due to the fact that they person commonalities.
India’s abstraction ecosystem present involves respective backstage companies and, therefore, the probe volition not lone beryllium astir which portion oregon constituent failed, and who was responsible, but besides whether determination is simply a process successful spot to hole accountability, and however it whitethorn beryllium improved. A method committee of the ISRO volition archetypal array a study connected the PSLV-C62 incidental this week, The Hindu has learnt done reliable sources.
ISRO’s humanities effect to rocket failures has been to person a Failure Analysis Committee probe the reasons, and publicise its findings. This, however, has not taken spot successful the lawsuit of some the PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62.
The Failure Analysis Committee study of the May 18 mishap was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office earlier the PSLV-C62 launch, but its details person not been made public.
The Failure Analysis Committee, constituted by the ISRO Chairman, is simply a assemblage of experts wrong ISRO to pb successful the lawsuit of a large incident. It is expected to reconstruct the concatenation of events starring up to a failure, and urge corrective enactment earlier the rocket is cleared to alert again. The committee members see experts wrong ISRO arsenic good arsenic applicable experts from academia.
The PSLV is ISRO’s astir palmy outer motorboat vehicle, and since 1993, the abstraction authorization has maintained a occurrence complaint of implicit 90%, placing astir 350 satellites into their intended orbits.
At a property league connected February 2, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh, said that a “third enactment appraisal” was ongoing.
“It isn’t that we (the ISRO) are truthful unwise that we could not observe the crushed for failures…this time, we are having a 3rd enactment [appraisal] to make confidence, though we person expertise wrong ISRO for specified analysis. Our probable adjacent [launch] date, which we are ambitiously targeting, is June, aft we fulfill ourselves that the occupation is rectified. This year, we person 18 launches scheduled, with six of them involving backstage assemblage satellites. None has withdrawn their petition to motorboat this means, spot is intact. Next year, we person 3 large overseas launches — Japan, the United States, and France- and nary person shown apprehension. That means our credibility is intact,” Dr. Singh has said.
(Inputs from Hemanth C.S., Bengaluru.)
