'No major design flaw in failed GSLV-F06'

There was no major design flaw in the Indian Space Research Organisation's Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle, which crashed seconds after take-off on December 25 last year, said a fact- finding panel.

"We found that there is no major design flaw in GSLV-F06. However, the fact-finding on the failure is continued, and mostly within next few weeks we should be able to draw a conclusion," said G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the GSLV-F06 Analysis Committee.

The failure could be due to severe "environment" conditions, he said without elaborating. However, the committee will be able to draw final conclusion within next few weeks, Nair said.

GSLV-F06 (with GSAT-5P satellite on board) was normal till 47.5 seconds from the lift-off. The events leading to the failure started at 47.8 seconds. Soon, the vehicle started developing larger errors in its orientation, leading to the crash, he said.

The committee has collected evidence from photographs, telemetry data and the previous flight data, Nair said.

"The first-level report has been submitted where we have clearly established which type of connectors got de-mated in the flight. Now we have to establish how they came apart. For that, additional tests are required," he said.