The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which successfully carried out an in-flight abort test as part of Gaganyaan last week will attempt an integrated air drop test involving dropping of the crew module from a helicopter next, while other abort tests are scheduled to be carried out thereafter reported TOI.

As of Tuesday the space agency was carrying out analysis of the recovered crew module (CM) from Saturday’s mission while other data from the crew escape system (CES) and CM from its descent was also being studied.

Aside from understanding the data for the performance of the various systems, which ISRO chairman S Somanath had said prima facie, performed as planned, the space agency will also look at how the systems within the CM have survived after the impact on the Bay of Bengal.

Close on the heels of this mission, ISRO, as per current plans, will carry out an integrated air drop test, A Rajarajan, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), the spaceport in Sriharikota, told TOI.

“When this test will be scheduled will depend on what we learn from the in-flight abort test, tentatively, we are looking at December. The integrated air drop test will see the module being dropped using a helicopter over the sea. It will help understand impact from various heights and velocity which we can compare with designs for nominal conditions,” he told TOI last Thursday.

Once the air drop test is complete, ISRO is expected to conduct another pad abort test (PAT) — where an anomaly would be simulated while the vehicle carrying the CES and CM is still on the launch pad, leading to an abort and taking the crew module to safety.

While the space agency had carried out a PAT in 2018, testing multiple new technologies in one mission, ISRO chairman S Somanath had told TOI earlier this year that they will have to redo the crucial PAT as there has been substantial design changes since the previous PAT.

“…So, that PAT is no longer valid. The complete system of the Gaganyaan crew module and CES has seen major changes, which means we have to repeat PAT.

The spaceport is also creating multiple new infrastructure as part of preparations for Gaganyaan, which will be the precursor to more ambitious goals — establishing a space station by 2035 and sending humans to Moon by 2040 — set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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