Context: A set of parachutes developed for India’s first uncrewed Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission has been shipped from Agra to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
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- These parachutes were developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), an Agra-based laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- Indigenously developed parachutes, designed to ensure the safe return of the capsule carrying astronauts for the proposed Gaganyaan Programme, are scheduled to undergo testing during an unmanned mission by the ISRO.
- It is developed for Gaganyaan Mission, India’s manned spaceflight program that aims to send a two- or three-member crew into low Earth orbit.
- The parachute system is made up of 10 parachutes, each designed for sequential deployment.
- Parachute Deployment Sequence
- Two Apex Cover Separation parachutes to protect the main parachute compartment.
- Two Drogue parachutes to stabilise the module and reduce its velocity.
- Three Pilot parachutes deployed to extract the three Main parachutes individually.
- The Main parachutes reduce the crew module’s speed to safe levels for landing.
- These parachutes are designated for use in the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission, known as G-1.
- The ADRDE team will carry out the assembly of the parachutes with the crew module at ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment (ISITE).
About Gaganyaan mission
- Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of 3 or 4 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
- It was approved in December 2018.
- The programme has entered its final phase, with the first human spaceflight now planned for the first quarter of 2027.
- Components of Gaganyaan
- LVM-3 (formerly GSLV Mk-III) is a three-stage rocket chosen for the Gaganyaan mission, with solid-fuel boosters, liquid-fuelled Vikas 2 engines, and a CE-20 cryogenic engine using liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
- The orbital module, weighing 8.2 tonnes, will be placed in low Earth orbit by the LVM-3.