Sriharikota, Apr 15 (PTI): India's Rs 330 crore mission to flight test the first indigenous cryogenic engine failed today after the rocket powered by it crashed into the sea five minutes after a perfect lift-off in a setback to its space programme.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) carrying a 2,200 kg communications satellite plunged into the Bay of Bengal after it deviated from its flight-path dashing the country's hopes of joining an exclusive club of five nations that has mastered the complex cryogenic technology on which ISRO was working for 18 years.
The satellite was to have been put into a Geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above earth, but the initial euphoria after the textbook launch turned into disappointment.
