spacetoday.net: GSLV failure blamed on snapped cable

Posted: Sat, Jan 1, 2011, 11:03 AM ET (1603 GMT)
GSLV F06 launch failure (The Hindu)

An Indian rocket that tumbled out of control and was destroyed a minute after liftoff last month failed because of a snapped data cable, investigators said Friday. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off normally on December 25 but started losing attitude control 47.8 seconds later; the rocket broke up at T+53.8 seconds and was destroyed by range safety at T+64 seconds. An initial investigation, chaired by former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, concluded that the primary cause of the failure is the "untimely and inadvertent" snapping of a group of 10 connectors at the base of the upper stage linking the rocket's avionics, located in the upper stage, with the rocket's lower stages. The snapped cables prevented commands from reaching the first stage's electronics, causing the rocket to lose control. Why the cables snapped remains unknown. ISRO plans further investigations into the cause of the failure as well as the overall GSLV program.