NEW DELHI, May 19 — India’s space agency failed in its landmark mission after an Earth observation satellite atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was lost shortly after lift-off on Sunday.

“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,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on social media platform X.

The 22-hour countdown to launch the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh state began on Saturday morning.

The PSLV rocket, introduced in the 1990s, is considered the space agency’s trusted workhorse.

PSLVs failed only twice before Sunday’s setback, local media reported. — Bernama