ISRO Successfully Conducts IADT-02 Test for Gaganyaan mission Ahead of Human Flight

The purpose of this test was to see if the system functions properly in case of a flight malfunction and the mission has to be aborted (called a 'mission abort'). The Gaganyaan mission will send three astronauts to a low-Earth orbit of 400 kilometers, followed by a safe return to Earth. This will be India's first human spaceflight mission.

For the test, an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter carried a dummy crew module weighing approximately 5.7 tons to an altitude of approximately three kilometers above the Sriharikota coast and dropped it at a designated location in the sea off the Sriharikota coast. This dummy crew module weighed the same as the crew module in the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission (G1). In IADT-01, a 4.8-tonne dummy crew module was dropped from a height of three kilometres by a Chinook helicopter. During the crew module's fall, 10 parachutes of four types deployed in precise sequence, gradually reducing the speed for a safe landing.

The dummy crew module was then successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy. The test was a complete success. All parachutes performed as expected and reduced the speed to a safe limit for human life. The Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) participated in the test.