GSLV D3 Launch Failure

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 15 Apr 2010 16:23

sometimes there are problems with telemetry data but not with actual mission, it happened during the CY-1 launch.

Viv S · Post by **Viv S** » 15 Apr 2010 16:23

800 seconds of flight. Data after 500 seconds lost.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 15 Apr 2010 16:24

ok guys thats it. These things happen. Americans Russians and Europeans had problems. This will only solidify our resolve. That is life. Those who aim for high..........do have problems but that is the way. Well done ISRO ...........YOU HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH TO THIS NATION ............and we do not mind small setbacks. hope we do better next time.

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 15 Apr 2010 16:25

'Sources' saying deviation from path, leading to reduction in altitude.

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 15 Apr 2010 16:26

Communication loss being reported.

RKumar · Post by **RKumar** » 15 Apr 2010 16:26

kvraghavaiah wrote:what is happening now.
Did they test the engine for the conditions in space and under accelaration.

Can we put aside questions at this moment..???? You could have suggested it when they performed the tests .... it is too easy to blame when thing might go wrong. Although I am hopeful everything will be OK at the end.

kvraghavaiah · Post by **kvraghavaiah** » 15 Apr 2010 16:27

Is the performance in the acceptable limits now?

Manish Jain · Post by **Manish Jain** » 15 Apr 2010 16:29

Things not looking good right now but not to despair. ISRO will get it right next time as they always have.

A bit disappointed but that is life.

marimuthu · Post by **marimuthu** » 15 Apr 2010 16:30

Mission Failure. First and Second stage worked. The Cryo stage started but after that nothing happened. Control was lost. GSAT-4 also lost.

dinesha · Post by **dinesha** » 15 Apr 2010 16:30

ISRO Chairman says..
Cryo engine fired..
GSLV tumbled...
two small vernier engine not ignited..causing stability problem
New launch within one year..

sad news.. live at NDTV ..Vishnu Som anchoring

Viv S · Post by **Viv S** » 15 Apr 2010 16:30

Failure declared by the chairman. Next test in an year's time.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 15 Apr 2010 16:31

Ayyo. Sorry to hear that. Hopefully, we'll ID the problem this time and get it right the next time. Hum honge kamyab.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Apr 2010 16:32

ISRO Chairman just spoke. He said the following:

Flight performance as predicted upto burnout of Stage 2
The CUS engine seems to have ignited, but needs to be confirmed with further analysis
The vernier engines seem to have failed losing control of the vehicle. Needs to be confirmed with data
Within one year, we will launch once again.

manoba · Post by **manoba** » 15 Apr 2010 16:37

It's Ok. Failures are common in space industry. ISRO Phoenix will rise again next year.

However, thanks for the scientists and technicians for their HARD WORK.

kvraghavaiah · Post by **kvraghavaiah** » 15 Apr 2010 16:43

RKumar wrote:
kvraghavaiah wrote:what is happening now.
Did they test the engine for the conditions in space and under accelaration.
Can we put aside questions at this moment..???? You could have suggested it when they performed the tests .... it is too easy to blame when thing might go wrong. Although I am hopeful everything will be OK at the end.

i am sorry.I do not mean to be harsh. failures are common in such a complex project. Let us hope to have things well in the next test.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 15 Apr 2010 16:45

they will do it next time. in ISRO we trust.

arya · Post by **arya** » 15 Apr 2010 16:55

SSridhar wrote:ISRO Chairman just spoke. He said the following:
Flight performance as predicted upto burnout of Stage 2
The CUS engine seems to have ignited, but needs to be confirmed with further analysis
The vernier engines seem to have failed losing control of the vehicle. Needs to be confirmed with data
Within one year, we will launch once again.

well said Mr. Chairman

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 15 Apr 2010 17:08

Too bad, ISRO. Good effort. Better luck next time.

Should keep an open mind while investigating - including the possibility of sabotage.

Sid · Post by **Sid** » 15 Apr 2010 17:16

Sad. Hard luck is what all I can say.

But even with this failure I am not shaken as we all know ISRO can deliver what they say. Next time they will touch the sky with glory..

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 15 Apr 2010 17:17

"Every failure is a stepping stone to success".Remember Robert the Bruce and the spider!

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 15 Apr 2010 17:19

Excellent efforts ISRO! Better luck next time.

प्रारभ्यते न खलु विघ्नभयेन नीचैः
प्रारभ्य विघ्नविहता विरमन्ति मध्याः |
विघ्नैः पुनः पुनरपि प्रतिहन्यमानाः
प्रारब्धमुत्तमजना न परित्यजन्ति ||

Inferior men do not start (any endeavor) with the fear of obstructions.
Average men , stop an endeavor when they are faced with problems. However.
even though they are struck again and again by disaster, superior men
never give up an endeavor that they have undertaken.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 15 Apr 2010 17:20

Perhaps the first clue was when the engine was initially fired but parameteres showed deviation after 200 seconds or so.

Anyhow, success in this regard is inevitable , just delayed right now.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 15 Apr 2010 17:35

kvraghavaiah wrote:what is happening now.
Did they test the engine for the conditions in space and under accelaration.

Sir this is the test for conditions in space under acceleration. Believe it or not.

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 15 Apr 2010 17:40

GSLV-D3 launch fails, says ISRO

SRIHARIKOTA (ANDHRA PRADESH): India's GSLV-D3 rocket, powered for the first time by an indigenous cryogenic engine, blasted off on time here on Thursday with a GSAT-4 satellite. But there was tension minutes later as the rocket stopped emitting signals.

After the rocket attained a height of 60 km, scientists at the control room here said they'd stopped getting signals.

Two rocket engines failed to ignite, added an ISRO official.

So far only the US, Russia, European Space Agency, China and Japan have developed cryogenic engines. The successful launch of GSLV-D3 would have placed India in the elite league of masters of cryogenics, the science of very low temperatures. The cryogenic engine gives higher thrust than conventional liquid and solid propellants to launch satellites weighing more than 4,000kg in geosynchronous orbit.

wilson_th · Post by **wilson_th** » 15 Apr 2010 17:44

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... epage=true

Indications were that the cryogenic engine ignited. "However, we saw the vehicle tumbling and losing control as the two vernier (steering) engines may not have ignited.

Newbie qstn....I think cryogenic engine was not a failure? only the steering engine failed to ignit.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Apr 2010 17:46

it will take a few weeks to analyze all data and in the absense of data perform experiments and simulations of what could have happened.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 15 Apr 2010 17:47

kvraghavaiah wrote:what is happening now.
Did they test the engine for the conditions in space and under accelaration.

Oh come come sir-ji
This is a hugely complex piece of equipment worth several hundred crores of rupees. The probably have thousands of points on the checklist.
Not possible for them to have missed any such thing.

What role does the vernier engine play in the CUS? Is this the one they use to align the rocket?

Maybe the vernier engines didn't fire properly, and the rocket lost direction and plunged.

Very unfortunate!

But congratulations to ISRO on realizing the CUS, this is a HUGE achievement. This failure is just a hitch that one must face from time to time. I really feel sad about the loss of the INSAT. That had cutting edge tech also.

kasthuri · Post by **kasthuri** » 15 Apr 2010 17:55

Gagan wrote:I really feel sad about the loss of the INSAT. That had cutting edge tech also.

For the first time they were planning to test the electric propulsion. This was mentioned in the chairman interview to NDTV.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 15 Apr 2010 18:02

Man they must have spent so much time on that satellite too! All those months of fabrication and testing.

There was some mention of using a carbon composite stuff there? Was this in relation to the heat shield? This was in the small news capsule just before the launch.

Perhaps an all carbon heat shield without metal backup?

Or is the satellite skeleton / chasis carbon composite?

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 15 Apr 2010 18:06

Better luck next time...these things happen. Mastering such technology is too important to give up.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Apr 2010 18:20

The first launches of SLV-3, ASLV, PLV & GSLV were either failures or only partially successful. ISRO did a lot of failure analysis and learned from them. Today is also a first launch for the CUS engine. Let us see what the analysis shows. Next few weeks will be busy time for the ISRO engineers. Let us wish them well. The vernier engines for thrust phase control of the third stage also use LH2 & LOX.

kasthuri · Post by **kasthuri** » 15 Apr 2010 18:20

A failure is bound to teach more than a success when it comes to mastering these techs. To learn how not to do is more important than how to do. It is okay as long as they try once again in a short time, may be around a year or so. This will be a useful lesson for GSLV MK III.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 15 Apr 2010 18:25

wilson_th wrote:http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... epage=true

Indications were that the cryogenic engine ignited. "However, we saw the vehicle tumbling and losing control as the two vernier (steering) engines may not have ignited.

Newbie qstn....I think cryogenic engine was not a failure? only the steering engine failed to ignit.

They are saying that Cryo Stage ignited but Verniers did not ignite.

But the Launch video on NDTV ( during News ) shows that at the third stage ignition point the velocity graph is horizontal ( no increase in velocity ) .. indicating that the stage has not ignited.

But we don't know perhaps the control system would have shut down the main engine as soon as it detected a failure in Vernier engines..

Just a guess..

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 15 Apr 2010 18:29

wilson_th wrote:http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... epage=true

Indications were that the cryogenic engine ignited. "However, we saw the vehicle tumbling and losing control as the two vernier (steering) engines may not have ignited.

Newbie qstn....I think cryogenic engine was not a failure? only the steering engine failed to ignit.

too early to say anything concrete. they will need anything between a couple of weeks to a couple of months to come to any definite conclusion.

vasu_ray · Post by **vasu_ray** » 15 Apr 2010 18:31

hopefully they improve on the turnaround times, 1 year is long enough delay for the follow on plans, the other aspect is sustaining multiple GSLV launches per year, we are yet to see a full ramp up on PSLV

The Brahmos block2 re-test was phenomenal

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 15 Apr 2010 18:33

Did this carry a Sattelite too? If yes, what a waste, if no, then they were wise.

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 15 Apr 2010 18:34

SSSalvi wrote:
wilson_th wrote:http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... epage=true

Indications were that the cryogenic engine ignited. "However, we saw the vehicle tumbling and losing control as the two vernier (steering) engines may not have ignited.

Newbie qstn....I think cryogenic engine was not a failure? only the steering engine failed to ignit.

They are saying that Cryo Stage ignited but Verniers did not ignite.

But the Launch video on NDTV ( during News ) shows that at the third stage ignition point the velocity graph is horizontal ( no increase in velocity ) .. indicating that the stage has not ignited.

But we don't know perhaps the control system would have shut down the main engine as soon as it detected a failure in Vernier engines..

Just a guess..

Just hoping that CUS ignited and delivered some thrust ( and data ). That is more valuable than no ignition!

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 15 Apr 2010 18:38

sanjeevpunj wrote:Did this carry a Sattelite too? If yes, what a waste, if no, then they were wise.

Next time GSLV will carry you and approx. 50 others like you to test. If success, no problem - you have a free ride to space. If failure, bigger success.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 15 Apr 2010 18:42

sanjeevpunj wrote:Did this carry a Sattelite too? If yes, what a waste, if no, then they were wise.

It carried a payload to test the thermal effects of unshielded re entry in a variable altitude release scenario in a multifuntional package that would have been ballast if it had gone into orbit. So the ballast had some test equipment. Waste not want not - as Sri Ramchandji, my physics teacher used to say.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 15 Apr 2010 18:47

sanjeevpunj wrote:Did this carry a Sattelite too? If yes, what a waste, if no, then they were wise.

As a FYI only:

Nothing unwise about ANY launch package/s.

It is a risk that they ALL (there are multiple parties involved) compute and thus take. The contents are therefore insured (for that amount).

Note that very mature launchers have also failed. Just because a missile set has had no problems for 10 years does not mean that there is no risk.