While the nation is celebrating another”Big win” in the india-pakistan conflict, India’s”World-leading” space industry will naturally join in the fun. On the morning of May 18 local time, an “EOS-09 radar imaging satellite” carried the triumph of one billion, four hundred million Indians into the vastness of space, and then — lost.
The satellite was launched in the morning Beijing time at the Satish Davan space center, using the”PSLV-C61″ carrier rocket. At first everything went smoothly, from the launch of the rocket to the separation of the first stage to the completion of the ignition of the second stage. However, shortly after the third-stage engine was started, the rocket’s flight trajectory suddenly deviated from the planned path, and ultimately irrevocably failed.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) subsequently admitted that the launch mission had”Not been completed”.
Such an outcome is not surprising to the Indian astronauts, because the failure of the launch was foreboding. Several weeks before the launch, a series of technical reports about the unstable state of the propulsion system had been flowing out of ISRO. In particular, the new liquid rocket propellants used in the third stage of the rocket has not yet passed long-term tests of its compatibility with pressure and high temperature, and its redundant design is controversial.
However, at a moment when the Indian government is loudly proclaiming a”Decisive victory in the border conflict”, a satellite is surely the best way to prove that India has indeed won. Thus, in the face of government pressure and”On schedule” hard targets, the technical team finally chose to compromise.
The result was a slap in the face, and the planned”Victory” turned into a costly defeat in an instant.
Yet Indians seem undeterred. Not only were ISRO’s social media sites full of congratulatory messages, but the Indian press was also surprised by claims such as”This was a successful attempt” and”Accidents can not erase India’s great progress in space”, trying to repackage this man-made disaster as a”Step towards success”.
In fact, these statements are consistent with Indian logic — they are a percentage of the success or failure of a space mission, not the practice of other countries in the world, there are only”Success” and”Failure” results. For example, if the first two stages of the rocket succeed and the third stage fails, the success rate is 66.6% . If Moonship II’s lander went missing just 2.1 kilometers from the Moon’s surface, ISRO could claim the mission was”98 percent successful.”.
As a result, Indian spaceflight is always”Successful” and rarely fails, at least in their own minds.
On August 12,2021, the third stage of the”GSLV-F10″ rocket’s hydrogen and oxygen engine failed to ignite. The mission ended awkwardly on live broadcast ? with 66.6% success.
On August 10,2022, the small Satellite Launch Vehicle “SSLV” made its maiden flight. A fourth-stage sensor failure caused the satellite to miss its intended orbit — a success rate of 75 percent.
In April, a 2024 rocket exploded a minute after liftoff at the Sadiesh Davan Space Center, creating a world-class fireworks show.
There are many common reasons for these failures in India’s space program. These include: technical deficiencies, involving rocket propulsion systems, sensors, navigation control, etc. ; insufficient monitoring and control capabilities, such as the 2025″Eos-09″ lost contact exposed monitoring and control shortcomings; project management risks, such as overconfidence leads to inadequate testing.
There are also some low-level errors. For example, on January 29 this year, the launch of the “NVS-02″ satellite, because the power connector is not connected, resulting in the valve can not be opened, the satellite orbit anomalies.
But despite its failures, India’s space ambitions are well known. Like China and the United States, India has its own manned space program, Moon Sampling Program, Moon base program, Mars Program… … And everything.
The manned space program
India’s human spaceflight program was proposed in 2006. At that time, India intended to achieve its first manned space mission in 2014, launching a manned spacecraft to send two astronauts into space.
The plan was later postponed until 2022.
Then it discovered problems with the reliability of the rocket and postponed it to the 2027.
It said it planned to send a trio of astronauts into space for three days at a time during the 2027.
In July, ISRO 2024 Somanath also said he hoped to send prime minister Molde FK into space, which would be a glorious moment in Indian history and inspire national pride and pride.
However, India has not yet solved the escape tower technology and spacecraft return of high-temperature technology, when it can actually achieve manned space, it is difficult to predict.
Moon ship plans 4 and 5
In September, ISRO announced plans for a 2027 mission to 2023 samples from the moon, with the goal of collecting 3 to 5 kilograms of lunar soil, more than the amount collected by China each time.
The Mars rover program
India plans to 2031 a Mars lander and 2032 a mission to the red planet. It will also carry a rover and a small helicopter to the surface.
However, India’s most powerful existing launch vehicle, LVM3, with a maximum capacity of about 10 tons in low Earth orbit, has not yet been able to directly put a 4.5-ton detector into earth-fire transfer orbit.
At the same time, it was also found that in the powerpoint made in India, Mars lander landing process seems to copy the European and American countries a version.
This is not surprising, however, given that the Indians have copied Chinese powerpoint slides from Chang’e v before.
Indian space station program
India plans to build its own space station by 2035, and preliminary design work has been completed on the first module of the space station, although it may have been designed on a powerpoint presentation. The first space station test module is scheduled to be launched 2028, ISRO said, and a model of the station’s multi-module structure has been published along with detailed data.
However, the space station must be built with the means of delivery, that is, a rocket with a capacity of more than 20 tons in low Earth orbit, in order to have enough capacity to launch the space station module 400 kilometers into space. But India’s current most powerful launch vehicle, with a capacity of up to 10 tons, can not be used to build a space station.
India’s manned mission to the Moon
At the 2025 Global Space Exploration Conference in May, Indian Prime Minister Molde FK announced in a video message that he would send an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.
But 2040 is still a long way off, and India simply doesn’t have the capability to get astronauts back from the Moon?
In addition, India intends to build a permanent base on the lunar surface by 2050. Because these plans are so far away, India doesn’t even bother with powerpoint.
There are four words in this world to describe the strangeness of a thing — mild, moderate, severe, and Indian. Once you get to the“Indian” level, there is no cure.
In the eyes of the Indian government, Indian spaceflight will not lose, will always be a success, but India’s perceived success of 1% to 99% of success, in other countries are called”Failure.”.
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