Pakistan, Jan. 12 -- India's Earth-observation satellite launch mission failed on Monday after a rocket malfunction. The launch vehicle veered off its planned path shortly after liftoff. As a result, the mission carrying multiple satellites could not be completed.

According to foreign media reports, the rocket was carrying an Earth-monitoring satellite and 16 other payloads. The deviation caused the entire mission to fail. Consequently, all onboard instruments were lost in the incident.

The failed launch has dealt another blow to the Indian Space Research Organisation. Moreover, it marks the second failure of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in eight months. Therefore, concerns have emerged over the rocket's reliability.

The PSLV-C6...