A set of parachutes developed for the first uncrewed mission of India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme was shipped from Agra on Monday (May 5, 2025). The parachutes had been developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), an Agra-based laboratory beneath the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
“Indigenously developed parachutes for the safe return of the capsule that will carry astronauts under the proposed Gaganyaan Programme are set to undergo [testing in an] unmanned mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),” ADRDE acknowledged. According to the assertion, the parachute configuration consists of 10 parachutes designed for sequential deployment.
Under the Gaganyaan programme, ISRO goals to ship a crew of two or three astronauts into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Explaining the restoration sequence throughout flight, the ADRDE assertion detailed that it begins with the deployment of two Apex Cover Separation parachutes (which shield the primary parachute compartment). This is adopted by two Drogue parachutes to stabilise the module and cut back its velocity. Subsequently, upon launch of the drogue chutes, three Pilot parachutes are deployed to extract the three Main parachutes individually. The Main parachutes are designed to scale back the crew module’s velocity to protected ranges for touchdown.
The flight unit parachutes had been formally flagged off by Dr. Manoj Kumar, Director of ADRDE. They have been dispatched to the ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment (ISITE) in Bengaluru.
These parachutes are meant for the primary uncrewed Gaganyaan mission, designated G-1. The ADRDE group will proceed to assemble the parachutes with the crew module at ISITE in preparation for this mission, which is deliberate for later this 12 months.
Published – May 06, 2025 02:58 am IST
