Indian space agency's rocket fails to deploy satellite for Earth observation

May 18 (UPI) -- India failed in its attempt to launch a satellite to observe Earth when the third stage failed, the nation's space agency said Sunday.

The Indian Space Research Organization's EOS-09 spacecraft lifted off atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at 5:59 a.m. local time Sunday. There have been 101 launches from Sriharikota, which is 1417 miles from New Delhi, including three to the moon and one to Mars.

The satellite was lost because of an issue with the third stage of the rocket about six minutes after launch.

"Third stage, motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation, and the mission could not be accomplished," ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said in a televised statement after the launch. "Third stage, motor started perfectly, but during the functioning of the third stage, we are seeing an observation, and the mission could not be accomplished. After analysis, we shall come back."

ISRO posted on X that "the mission could now be accomplished.

The 3,735-pound satellite was to be deployed from the upper stage about 18 minutes after liftoff at an altitude of 332 miles.

This was to be India's ninth mission in India's Earth Observation Satellite series.

The satellite included a synthetic aperture radar payload, which had been been successfully deployed in other missions.

The satellites can observe Earth day and night, including cloud cover.

India Today noted the round-the-clock, reliable intelligence is significant among security concerns along India's borders with Pakistan and China.

India was the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole in 2023. This is an arrea scientists believe could hold reserves of frozen water.