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New Delhi. The news of technical hurdles and failures in the recent missions of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has created a stir in the security corridors of the country. After the recent ISRO visit of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, now there seems to be a new twist in this whole matter. A committee has been formed to investigate this. Former Principal Scientific Advisor K. Vijayaraghavan and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) S. This special committee has been formed including Somnath. This committee will investigate the ‘systemic issues’ and organizational problems behind the frequent failures of ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle i.e. PSLV.

Recent failures to be analyzed

PSLV-C62 (January 12, 2026): This mission failed to place 16 satellites in orbit. The rocket’s third stage could not ignite, causing it to fall into the sea.
PSLV-C61 (May 18, 2025): A similar problem was seen in this mission also. In this also the third stage did not work, as a result of which the EOS-09 satellite built for the strategic needs of the government was destroyed.

Scope of investigation and objective of the committee

According to a report, usually technical committees find out which part failed, but this new committee will also investigate in depth the processes of manufacturing, purchasing and assembling various components of the rocket. Many private companies are now also involved in India’s space ecosystem. Therefore, the Committee will also review whether any appropriate process exists to fix accountability and how it can be improved.

The committee members (who are experts from outside ISRO) will present their report to current ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan before April. According to the report, India’s Space Commission member and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center on February 3, possibly linked to the failure of the PSLV-C62 mission.

Changes in old investigation procedures

Non-publicity of reports: Historically, ISRO forms a ‘Failure Analysis Committee’ (FAC) to investigate the causes of rocket failures and makes its findings public. However, in both the PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62 cases, this report has not been made public.

Report to PMO: The FAC report on the accident of May 18 (PSLV-C61) was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office before the launch of PSLV-C62, but its details have been kept secret. Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh clarified in a press conference on February 2 that ISRO has the complete expertise to conduct the analysis, but this time a third party assessment is being done to maintain the confidence of the public and stakeholders.

next goal: ISRO is ambitiously planning its next launch in June after the problem is completely fixed.
Upcoming Missions: There are 18 launches scheduled this year, of which 6 involve private sector satellites.
Overseas Launch: Three big foreign satellites of Japan, America and France are also to be launched next year.

Dr Jitendra Singh emphasized that no country or company has withdrawn its launch request, which shows that the credibility and trust in ISRO around the world is still completely intact. It is noteworthy that since 1993, the success rate of PSLV has been more than 90% and it has successfully placed about 350 satellites in their orbits.