Key Takeaways
- The Crew module was recovered by the Indian Navy after a successful abort demonstration.
- Gaganyaan TV‑D1 validated the Crew Escape System at Mach 1.2.
- The flight lasted roughly nine minutes, covering lift‑off, separation, and sea touchdown.
Chennai: The Crew Module which was test flighted as part of Gaganyaan mission and splashed into the Orbit after it was launched by first Developmental Test Flight TV-D1 from Sriharikota on Saturday to demonstrate the Crew Escape System, was successfully recovered by the Indian Navy.
“The Crew Module in the safe hands of @indiannavy #Gaganyaan”, the Navy tweeted.
The entire flight sequence — from the test rocket’s lift‑off on the First Launch Pad to the crew module’s sea touchdown — took about nine minutes.
During this time, the deployment of parachutes ensured a safe descent, and the crew module landed gently in the water.
This flight test marked a major milestone in the overall Gaganyaan programme–which will be India’s first manned mission to space–and was aimed at definining the in-flight abort demonstration of Crew Escape System (CES) at Mach Number 1.2 with the newly developed Test Vehicle followed by Crew Module Separation and Recovery.
The objective of the mission is Flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle sub systems, Crew Escape System including various separation systems and Crew Module characteristics & deceleration systems demonstration at higher altitude and its recovery, ISRO said.
he 35 m tall Liquid Propelled Single Stage Test Vehicle, weighing about 44 ton, used a modified Vikas engine with 4,520 kg Crew Module (CM)– a single walled unpressurised aluminium structure– and CES mounted at its fore end.
“The entire flight sequence, right from lift off to the crew module touchdown at sea about 10 km from Sriharikota, with the deployment of parachutes, took 531 seconds as planned”, ISRO said.
About 60 seconds after the lift off, the test vehicle — crew escape system got separated at an altitude of 11.7 km and another 30 seconds later, the CM-CES too got separated at an altitude of 16.7 km.
Subsequently, the abort sequence was executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of the CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota, at a velocity
of 8.5 m/s.
Later, it was safely recovered by the Navy.
