ISRO’s mission failed, but Chhotu capsule escaped alive, sending signals

New Delhi. The PSLV rocket mission of the Indian Space Research Center ISRO failed due to a technical fault, but the small space capsule of the Spanish private company remained safe and signals are being received from this capsule on the ground. The capsule, called KID, managed to transmit flight data for about 190 seconds despite the rocket failure. It was specifically designed to test re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Let us tell you that PSLV-C62 took off from Sriharikota at 10:18 am. The rocket included India’s satellite Anvesha and this capsule from Spain with a total of 15 satellites. However, due to a technical glitch in the rocket’s third stage the satellites could not reach their target and were lost. Among the satellites destroyed was DRDO’s Anvesha satellite, which is capable of monitoring military activities and camouflage from a distance of about 500 kilometers. Also included were India’s first in-orbit refueling satellite, AYULSat, and CGUSAT, a small LEO satellite designed for emergency communications and disaster management. Thailand and Britain jointly built a satellite for Earth observation. The previous PSLV mission (C61-EOS-09) in May 2025 also failed due to a motor pressure problem. Experts say that ISRO will take time to collect data of the incident, analyze it and decide on corrective steps. Official findings are expected to be released in the coming days.