Launch vehicle blew up after four signal chords snapped: ISRO

He ruled out any design failure in the GSLV vehicle.

In three days, ISRO will come out with how and why this happened, Radhakrishnan said.  There was a valve leak problem in the cryogenic stage that was noted last Sunday, which was then rectified.

Making it clear that the valve leak and its subsequent rectification had nothing to do with Saturday’s downturn, Radhakrishnan parried a query on whether any “sabotage” could have triggered the disaster.

“I don't know about that,” he quipped.

The entire ISRO team of scientists and engineers at the Mission Control Centre in Sriharikota looked downcast at the GSLV’s 7th mission turning unsuccessful.

Radhakrishnan, however, did not think the failure would hit or seriously undermine India’s space programme.

The Russian cryogenic stage engine, used in the GSLV launch on Saturday, was also not old and it had been certified as fit for use, he said.