After multiple successive failures, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to review the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by a third party outside the agency. ISRO has formed internal failure analysis committees, along with third-party appraisal to independently verify findings and build greater stakeholder trust.
The information was shared by the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh during an interaction with the media.
"We have a failure appraisal mechanism in place. We have a committee in place," Singh said. "In order to have more confidence, we are also subjecting it to a third-party appraisal."
The space agency has now ambitiously targeted June 2026 for the next PSLV mission, contingent on completing the investigation and implementing the necessary fixes.
Isro suffered two successive failures of the PSLV mission and multiple satellites were lost in space in 2024 and 2025.
The PSLV-C61 mission in May 2025 failed shortly after liftoff when the third stage did not ignite properly, leading to the loss of the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite meant for strategic governmental use.
Similarly, the PSLV-C62 launch on January 12, 2026, carrying the EOS-N1 (Anvesha) satellite and 15 co-passenger payloads, including international ones, experienced a flight deviation due to a third-stage issue, resulting in all 16 satellites being lost as the rocket crashed into the sea.
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