ISRO rocket debris washes up on Tamil Nadu beach
A group of fishermen near Thondi, Tamil Nadu, came across a big metal object floating in the sea: Turns out, it's a piece from an ISRO rocket.
The part, called the SITVC system from a PSLV rocket's first stage, washed up on shore and was confirmed by ISRO experts.
Police were alerted right away; thankfully, officials say there's no safety risk.
Which PSLV mission the debris came from is still unknown
The SITVC system helps steer the PSLV rocket by injecting fluid at an angle to control its direction: it uses fluid injection to generate control forces for thrust vectoring.
While ISRO has collected the debris for checks, it is still figuring out which mission it came from.
Rocket parts falling to earth isn't new
Rocket debris showing up isn't new: fragments from ISRO's LVM-III were recovered in the Maldives (February 2026) and in Sri Lanka (December 2025).
According to the Department of Space, as of March 2026 there are 129 trackable pieces of Indian space debris currently in orbit.