ISRO’s EOS-03 launch failed

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) lost an important Earth observation satellite when it was launched this morning.

The launch will put the Earth observation satellite EOS-03 in a geostationary orbit. However, five minutes after takeoff, the GSLV rocket malfunctioned and the mission failed.

"Performance of the first and second stages was normal. However, due to a technical glitch, the cryogenic upper level ignition did not take place and the work could not be carried out as planned," ISRO said in a statement, without giving further details.

GSLV-F10 launch took place today at 0543 Hrs IST as scheduled. Performance of first and second stages was normal. However, Cryogenic Upper Stage ignition did not happen due to technical anomaly. The mission couldn't be accomplished as intended.

— ISRO (@isro) August 12, 2021

 The cryogenic superstructure consists of a locally developed cryogenic engine fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at very low temperatures. The cryogenic level must be highly efficient and designed to carry heavy rockets such as the GSLV into space. But these are more complex than conventional liquid and solid impulses because very low temperatures must be maintained at hundreds of degrees Celsius below zero. Although many launches were successfully completed, ISRO had some difficulties during the cryogenic phase.

This is the 14th launch involving the GSLV rocket and the fourth failure. This rocket, the Mark-II version of GSLV, was last used in December 2018 to successfully launch the communications satellite GZAT-7A. The last failure of this rocket took place in 2010.

The failure is a major setback for ISRO, which has already delayed operations due to the epidemic. The launch of EOS-03 was initially scheduled for March last year, but was initially postponed due to some technical glitches and later due to the pandemic.

EOS-03, part of the new generation Earth-monitoring satellites, is used to provide almost real-time images of much of the country used to monitor natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes, water bodies, crops and plants and forest.

Many missions involving GSLV rockets are planned for this and future years, and their current schedules will be affected by this failure.