Gaganyaan Mission Advances: ISRO Conducts Crucial Air Drop Test

ISRO’s recent successful Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-01) is a significant milestone for the Gaganyaan mission, focusing on the parachute-based deceleration system. This test, conducted in collaboration with the Indian Air Force, DRDO, Indian Navy, and Indian Coast Guard, is designed to ensure the safety of astronauts during their return to Earth. The space agency announced the achievement on ‘X’. The uncrewed mission of the Gaganyaan program, G1, which will include the Vyommitra robot, is planned for December. ISRO is progressing well, with about 80% of the testing phase completed, and the remaining tests are scheduled to be finished by March of the following year. The Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3) is ready, as confirmed by the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology. Key developments include the realization and testing of the Orbital Module’s propulsion systems for both the Crew Module and Service Module. The Crew Escape System (CES) has also undergone development and static testing of various motors. Infrastructure for the mission, including the Orbital Module Preparation Facility, Gaganyaan Control Centre, and a crew training facility, has been put in place. Furthermore, precursor missions like the TV-D1 have been conducted to validate the Crew Escape System (CES). Flight operations and the communication network are in place, as are plans for crew recovery operations. The first Uncrewed Mission (G1) is seeing key developments of its components.