India’s space agency suffers setback in satellite mission after technical anomaly

A security guard stands behind the logo of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) at its headquarters in Bengaluru, India, June 12, 2019. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

BENGALURU — India’s space agency suffered a setback while trying to put an earth observation satellite into orbit, due to a technical anomaly minutes after the rocket carrying the satellite was launched in the early hours on Thursday.

“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,” the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement.

The satellite, meant for quick monitoring of natural disasters such as cyclones, cloudbursts and thunderstorms, was launched on a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) at 0013 GMT, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern India.