The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come round to the inference that the PSLV C-39 mission on August 31 was doomed by the failure of the pyro devices that actuate the separation of the heat shield encasing the satellite from the rocket.

A high-level meeting chaired by ISRO chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar held at the VSSC here on Friday came to the conclusion on the failure of the pyro devices. The meeting was informed that simulation exercises were on to ascertain the reason for the malfunctioning of the pyro devices.

‘Component isolated’

“We have isolated the component responsible for the failure of the mission but it remains to be established why it failed to function,” VSSC Director Dr. K.Sivan said. “We are testing various versions and hope to arrive at a consensus in seven to 10 days”. The exercises are expected to help the scientists analyse the failure from various angles.

ISRO had declared the PSLV- C39 mission unsuccessful after the heat shield refused to open and release the IRNSS-1H navigation satellite on board. The failure review committee set up by ISRO had zeroed in on the electrically-operated pyro devices as the culprit after it was found that the command for separation had gone through but failed to trigger the mechanical process that pops open the heat shield.

Pyro devices use small charges to actuate the release mechanism that forces the fairings apart.