German-made parts suspected to be responsible for blow-up of Indian satellite-launcher: official

The 10 connectors that snapped prematurely during launch of Indian rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) on Dec. 25 were imported from Germany, reported the Indo-Asian News Service Wednesday.

The report quoted Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) director of satellite center T.K. Alex sa saying: "The connectors are German made."

A GSLV rocket weighing 418 tons and costing 1,750 million rupees (38 million U.S. dollars) and carrying an advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P veered off its flight path and disintegrated within a minute after liftoff from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, southern India.

As the three stages would separate after their work one after another, it is impossible to have long wires connecting the computers at the top and the stages located below. Hence, the ISRO had connectors, sort of plugs and sockets, to relay the commands and peel off smoothly when the stages separated, said the report quoting an unnamed ISRO official.

According to ISRO, 10 connectors located below the Russian made cryogenic engine snapped leading to the rocket's failure.

Source: Xinhua