Back-to-back PSLV failures cast shadow over India’s ambitious human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan

Hyderabad: Have the back-to-back failures of missions involving Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) slowed momentum on India's ambitious human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan?Suppliers of critical systems and subsystems to the spaceflight programme suggest it may have. Multiple vendors point to fewer technical reviews, delayed inspections, and limited clarity on delivery schedules as ISRO appears to focus on failure analysis.A vendor involved in crew-module hardware confirmed delays. Some of the company's systems were used in various tests. "We completed the human-rated crew module for the uncrewed mission. It still requires pressure testing, as modules carrying humans must be pressurised, but they (ISRO) are not showing interest. They are just delaying," the promoter said.The human-rated crew module, made of aluminium and titanium alloys, was to be delivered by Dec 2025. However, ISRO is yet to conduct the first uncrewed orbital mission for Gaganyaan (G1), originally slated for Dec last year or early 2026."They are not saying it is postponed, but they are not pursuing us either. We are following up for inspections, but they are not coming forward. Nobody is telling us anything. Even before the second PSLV mission (C-62), there were slight delays. After this failure, no one is talking further," he added.A senior official at a company supplying crew module escape-related subsystems also acknowledged delays, saying recent launch setbacks seem to have pushed ISRO teams into a closed-door assessment mode, reducing routine engagement with Gaganyaan vendors."Honestly, after this failure, the whole ISRO team seems to be in failure-analysis mode. I don't really know what is happening. They are not even talking much about Gaganyaan now," the executive said.The shift in focus has had a cascading effect on suppliers awaiting oversight and acceptance checks before hardware can move to the next stage of integration. "Because of delays on their side, inspections are not happening, which in turn delays us," he added.Another company involved in crew-module hardware said the uncertainty is affecting long-term manufacturing decisions, particularly where specialised tooling and capacity investments are required. "These PSLV failures seem to have had a psychological impact. They are conducting many more tests. The focus now is on documentation rather than evaluating the actual product. From raw material onward, vendors have to submit extensive documentation for every process, which is causing delays. There is more emphasis on paperwork and less on supervision," the vendor said.Spacetech insiders note that any launch failure typically results in the industry going into assessment mode. "Every failure is a lesson for the entire industry. Even today, launches are relatively few," said a spacetech startup founder.One company had readied a new facility for evaluation, but a planned visit by ISRO officials did not materialise after the PSLV failures. "After this failure, they haven't even come to inspect the facility," the executive said.Some suppliers report no slowdownHowever, not all suppliers report a broad slowdown. The promoter of a company that delivered multiple subsystems for the crew module and crew escape system said work continues, albeit with less public communication."They are doing everything in the background. Perhaps they don't want to make it public because of the pressure, especially after the consecutive PSLV failures," he said."We handle around nine subsystems for them. Work began nearly three years ago, and we completed and delivered them two to three months ago," he added.An official at another company supplying avionics and other subsystems said some workstreams were continuing "as per schedule," with orders placed and timelines communicated to vendors.