An Indian rocket carrying 16 loads of equipment and experiments including an earth surveillance satellite went off track after liftoff on Monday in a fresh setback to the workhorse launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

It was a second disappointment for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in about eight months, denting its reputation for reliability, with a more than 90% success rate over about 60 past missions.

The PSLV-C62 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the island of Sriharikota at 10:18 a.m. (04488 GMT) carrying the EOS-N1 observation satellite and 15 other payloads developed by startups and academic institutions in India and abroad.

The ISRO`s mission control said the rocket performed normally for most of the flight before an unexpected disturbance and deviation from its path.

"The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during the end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated," ISRO said in a statement, without giving further details on what had gone wrong or where the rocket ended up.

The PSLV has been central to India`s space programme, having launched missions such as Chandrayaan-1 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory. It also underpins India`s push to open space manufacturing to private industry.