Dec. 25: The strap-on boosters, which are attached to the side of the GSLV-F06, are suspected to have failed, causing the powerful rocket carrying the 2.3-tonne GSAT-5P to veer off course within a minute of launch on Saturday.
“We suspect the strap-on boosters and not the first stage which is of credible pedigree and flown several times,” a top space scientist told Deccan Chronicle after the rocket was destroyed.
Two prominent space scientists ascribed the failure to the carelessness of the Isro. “To me, it looks like a ground level mechanical failure which is very basic in nature,” said Mr D. Sasi Kumar, former head of Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. “This is the most stupid thing to have happened to a space mission of this magnitude. From the TV visuals, I got a feeling that the strap-on rockets of the first stage got detached within seconds of lift-off,” Mr Kumar said.