Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday congratulated the Indian Space Organization for its successful conduct of the second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) of the ambitious Gajanyaan mission, marking a major step towards India’s first manned spaceflight scheduled next year.
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IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first of its kind test (IADT-01) conducted on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The previous test demonstrated the overall performance of the parachute-based deceleration system designed for the crew module of the Gaganyaan mission.
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According to ISRO, the Gaganyaan mission is the country’s first human spaceflight programme, and aims to demonstrate the indigenous capability of sending a three-member crew into a 400 km orbit in a three-day mission and return them safely to Earth. The mission will use the LVM3 launch vehicle intended for humans.
The parachute-based deceleration system plays a crucial role during the final stage of landing, ensuring that the crew module lands safely at sea by reducing its speed to acceptable limits. The system consists of multiple parachutes, including Apex Cover Separation parachutes, Drogue parachutes, pilot parachutes, and main parachutes, all deployed in a precise sequence.
During IADT-01, a simulated crew unit weighing about 4.8 tons was dropped from a height of about 3 km using an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter. The test successfully validated the deployment sequence and performance of the parachutes, ultimately reducing the module’s descent speed to approximately 8 meters per second.
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The test also simulates an abort scenario on the launch pad, with the aircraft’s onboard avionics running the deployment sequence and recording key parameters for analysis. After the plane went down, Marine teams recovered the unit.
The Gaganyaan program saw collaboration from multiple agencies, including DRDO, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Coast Guard, with more such tests planned to further validate the performance of the system under various conditions.
