India loses critical military satellite in rare rocket failure
After conducting their second orbital launch in 2025, India lost the radar satellite EOS-09, which was crucial for military operations amid the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan. What went wrong?
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the PSLV-XL rocket with the EOS-09 satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on May 17, 2025. Initially, everything proceeded according to plan, but six minutes after launch, a rocket failure occurred. The radar satellite EOS-09 was intended to support military operations in the ongoing armed conflict between India and Pakistan.
What caused the PSLV-XL rocket failure?
There was a failure in the third stage of the rocket, which prevented further ascent and placement of the satellite in the designated orbit. The malfunction was caused by a sudden drop in engine pressure, resulting in the loss of valuable payload. Despite the successful stage separation and ignition of the fourth stage engine, the mission ended in failure.
Satellite EOS-09 was equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and was meant to enhance India's satellite reconnaissance capabilities, especially amid tensions with Pakistan. S. Somanath, the former president of ISRO, commented on the situation, emphasizing the challenges involved in developing the third stage solid engine.
S. Somanath acknowledged the significant difficulties encountered during the development of the third stage solid engine, noting that it's rare for such issues to reappear at this point. Despite this, he expressed strong confidence in the team's ability to swiftly and effectively determine the underlying cause. He also emphasized that setbacks should not be seen as failures, but rather as valuable learning experiences.
The Indian rocket was considered reliable
The EOS-09 satellite, equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), was intended to enhance India's satellite reconnaissance capabilities. Radar satellites, such as EOS-09, can conduct observations regardless of the time of day and weather conditions, which is crucial in military operations. The failure of the EOS-09 mission is a significant blow to the Indian armed forces, who, amid escalating conflict with Pakistan, planned to strengthen their operational capabilities.
The PSLV-XL rocket, considered reliable, had only one failed mission until now, in 2017. At that time, the problem was with the fairings, which did not open, preventing the release of the IRNSS-1H navigation satellite. Despite these failures, the PSLV-XL was used in many historic missions, including the launch of the Chandrayaan-1 probe in 2008. The current failure is only the second in the history of this version of the rocket.
