India's first satellite launch of 2026 fails due to 'deviation in path'

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first satellite launch of the year was cut short on Monday (January 12) after an anomaly was detected during the third stage of the PSLV-62 rocket's flight, the space agency said.

The mission, led by ISRO's commercial arm New Space India Limited, aimed to deploy an Earth Observation Satellite along with 15 co-passenger satellites using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, a flagship rocket in the agency's lineup.

"Close to the end of the third stage we were seeing some disturbance in the vehicle and there was a deviation in path of the vehicle and the mission could not proceed in the expected path," ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayan said in a statement addressing the issue.

PSLV, which has completed 63 successful flights to date, has been a cornerstone of India's space programme, achieving milestones such as the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission, Aditya-L1, and Astrosat, according to ISRO's website.

Production: Feline Lim/Reuters