Tapan Misra, a retired Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre, raised concerns regarding three consecutive failures in India's strategic satellite launch missions.

Misra, widely regarded as the father of India's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite program, has urged a thorough introspection into technical, procedural, quality control, testing, and security shortcomings to restore ISRO's trajectory.

Speaking from Chennai on 20 January 2026, Misra described the string of setbacks as more than mere coincidence. He noted that one failure might be dismissed as an accident, two as happenstance, but three in succession point to a discernible pattern demanding rigorous analysis of all potential causes—technical and non-technical, internal and external.

The first incident occurred on 29 January 2025 with the NVS-02 satellite, a military navigation asset under India's NAVIC constellation. Launched successfully aboard a GSLV rocket, the mission faltered when the satellite failed to reach geostationary orbit. An oxidiser valve in the apogee boost motor malfunctioned, with both primary and redundant systems failing unexpectedly—a rarity in prior operations.

Misra highlighted the anomaly, emphasising that such valves had never failed before. This glitch stranded the satellite in an unusable orbit, undermining efforts to bolster India's independent regional navigation capabilities amid growing strategic needs.

The second failure struck on 18 May 2025 during the PSLV-C61 mission, which carried EOS-09—originally RISAT-1B, a critical C-band SAR military reconnaissance satellite. The launch vehicle experienced a sudden drop in chamber pressure in its third-stage solid motor towards the burn's conclusion, leading to mission abort.

This marked the first such failure in the operational history of the PSLV, India's workhorse launcher with an otherwise impeccable record. Solid motors, known for their reliability, do not typically falter in this manner, raising questions about material integrity or unforeseen stresses.

Just over seven months later, on 12 January 2026, history repeated itself with PSLV-C62 carrying DRDO's Anvesha satellite. An identical anomaly in the third-stage solid burn doomed the mission, mirroring the C61 mishap and amplifying suspicions of systemic issues within ISRO's proven PSLV lineage.

Contrastingly, ISRO notched successes in non-strategic realms. The Indo-US NISAR Earth-observation satellite launched flawlessly via GSLV-F16, while the US commercial BlueBird Block 2 payload rode LVM3 to orbit on 24 December 2025. These triumphs underscore that the failures disproportionately afflict military and strategic payloads.

Misra portrayed the past year as ISRO's most challenging in terms of failure frequency, particularly for the reliable PSLV. He advocated urgent reforms in technical processes, quality assurance, rigorous testing protocols, managerial oversight, and crucially, security measures to plug vulnerabilities.

He likened ISRO's potential recovery to the phoenix rising from ashes, expressing unwavering faith in its inherent strengths. As India's crown jewel in space technology, ISRO has weathered storms before and possesses the resilience to reclaim its lustre, Misra affirmed optimistically.

These incidents arrive at a pivotal juncture for India's space ambitions, with escalating geopolitical tensions necessitating robust indigenous capabilities in navigation, reconnaissance, and surveillance. The pattern of failures in defence-oriented missions could signal deeper challenges, from supply chain disruptions to adversarial interference, though Misra refrained from explicit attribution.

Restoring confidence demands transparency and swift action. Independent audits, enhanced redundancy in critical components, and fortified cybersecurity protocols may prove essential. ISRO's track record of innovation—from Chandrayaan to Gaganyaan—suggests it can pivot effectively.

Stakeholders, including DRDO and the defence ministry, must collaborate closely. Lessons from these setbacks could fortify future missions, such as upcoming SAR constellations and hypersonic tech integrations, ensuring India's space edge remains unassailable.

Misra's candid critique serves as a clarion call. With concerted introspection, ISRO stands poised not merely to recover, but to soar higher, safeguarding national interests in an era of contested domains.

Based On UNI Report