India, Jan. 14 -- ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C62) lifted off from Sriharikota on Monday morning with high expectations, carrying 16 satellites into space. The 44.4-metre, four-stage rocket took off on time at 10:18 am, and early phases of the mission progressed smoothly as scientists tracked the flight in real time.

The mission aimed to deploy a primary Earth Observation satellite along with multiple co-passenger satellites into a 512-kilometre Sun-Synchronous Orbit after a flight of around 17 minutes. However, the situation changed dramatically once the rocket entered a critical phase of its journey.

Mission control detected disturbances shortly after the third stage ignited. The rocket showed abnormal movement and dev...