The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Tuesday that it successfully conducted a key test of the main parachutes for the Gaganyaan Crew Module at the Babina Field Firing Range in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on November 3.
The test was part of a series of Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Tests (IMAT) aimed at qualifying the parachute system for India’s first human spaceflight mission, ISRO said in a statement.
The Crew Module’s parachute system comprises ten parachutes of four types. The descent sequence begins with two apex cover separation parachutes that remove the module’s protective cover, followed by two drogue parachutes that stabilise and slow down the module. Once the drogues are released, three pilot parachutes deploy three main parachutes, which further reduce the descent speed for a safe landing. The system is designed with redundancy — ensuring that even two of the three main parachutes are sufficient for a safe touchdown.
The main parachutes use a technique called reefed inflation, in which the canopy opens partially at first (reefing) and then fully after a set interval (disreefing) with the help of a pyrotechnic device.
In this test, ISRO simulated an extreme scenario involving a delay in the disreefing between two main parachutes. The test successfully validated the parachutes under maximum design load conditions, confirming their structural strength and load-sharing performance during asymmetric disreefing — one of the most demanding situations expected during descent.
A mass simulating the Crew Module was dropped from an altitude of 2.5 km using an Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft. The parachute system deployed precisely as planned, with the entire sequence executing flawlessly, resulting in a stable descent and soft landing — reaffirming the robustness of the Gaganyaan parachute design.
