Rare PSLV Failure Is A Setback, But Isro Will Bounce Back
Chethan Kumar
TNN
Updated: May 18, 2025, 21:45 IST IST
Still boasting a 93.7% success rate, the space agency's workhorse for over three decades is expected to return to the launchpad soon
It has helped launch satellites to Mars and Moon . It has underpinned India's commercial space business for decades. And it boasts a success rate that rivals — or even betters — the world's best. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ( PSLV ), long dubbed Isro 's 'workhorse', has more than earned that moniker. It's a rocket that has routinely defied the oft-quoted adage: 'Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing.'
PSLV fails rarely — and a glitch in its solid stage, the most mature of its systems, is rarer still. Before Sunday, it had a success rate of 95.2%. That has now dipped to 93.7%, which is perhaps still better than any other rocket that has seen as many launches as PSLV.
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