New Delhi, May 18 -- In a rare setback, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) faced a mission failure on Sunday as its 101st satellite launch -- EOS-09 aboard the PSLV-C61 -- could not be completed due to technical problems in the third stage of the launch vehicle.

The launch, which took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, began on a promising note, with the first and second stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) performing nominally. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said that the trouble arose during the functioning of the third stage and the mission could not be accomplished.

This was the 63rd flight of the PSLV rocket, and the 27th using the PSLV-XL, completing a total of 100 launches before May 18...