ISRO says rocket carrying small satellites placed them in wrong orbit, rendering them unusable

The Indian Space Research Organization has said its rocket carrying small satellites launched on Sunday placed them in the wrong orbit, rendering them unstable and thus, unusable, ISRO said in a statement on Sunday.

The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, a maiden attempt by ISRO to send lighter satellites into space, had placed them in an elliptical orbit, instead of a circular orbit, which would eventually destabilize the satellites, ISRO's Chairman S Somanath said in a video update on the launch.

"A committee would analyse and make recommendations soon. The ISRO would come back with an SSLV-D2," the organization said in a Tweet.