The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The system is essential to ensure safe recovery of the crew module — the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight. After the module’s release, a parachute system, comprising 10 parachutes, was deployed, helping the capsule decelerate to a safe splashdown speed. The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
In the first IADT, a 4.8-tonne dummy crew module was dropped from a height of three km by a Chinook helicopter. Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft’s return to the Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios. These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open, and the spacecraft’s orientation and safety during splashdown. Union Minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the ISRO for successfully conducting the test. India’s first human spaceflight will be launched from Sriharikota in 2027.
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