The liftoff of a test vehicle with crew safety related
payloads connected to the ambitious Gaganyaan human space flight mission could
not happen on Saturday as planned following a glitch which will be analysed, said
ISRO chief S Somanath.
Engine ignition of the first uncrewed test flight (TV-D1)
rocket did not happen in the course of time.
After suffering delays twice, totaling 45 minutes, the
rocket failed to liftoff from the spaceport here at 8.45 am, even as a “hold”
signal flashed across the screens at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre while the
final countdown was on.
There was a very smooth air lift and automatic launch sequence
leading up to the command to lift off, “but the engine ignition has not
happened in the nominal course due to anomaly,” said Somanath soon after the
mission was put on hold.
“And we have to find out what went wrong with that.
The vehicle is safe, the entire vehicle is very safe. We will have to reach the
vehicle and then look at what has happened now,” he said, adding ISRO will come
back soon after analysing what triggered the automatic launch sequence holding
the vehicle.
“So, what has happened is that the ground support
computer doing this function has withheld the launch in view of the anomaly
observed. We will come back after understanding the anomaly, correct it and
schedule the launch very soon,” said the space agency’s chairman from the
Mission Control Center.
The revised launch schedule will be announced later
after analysing what went wrong today, he added.
PTI
