Gaganyaan: Splashdown success: Gaganyaan crew escape module detaches, lands in sea | India News

SRIHARIKOTA: Isro on Saturday showed its capability to bring back its astronauts to safety in the event of an emergency after the Gaganyaan launch by successfully carrying out the first “test vehicle demonstration” (TV-D1). The nine-minute and 50-second mission started with a special rocket lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 10 am and ended with the Indian Navy retrieving the crew module that splashed down gently in the Bay of Bengal.

Isro chairman S Somanath, said: “I am happy to announce the success of the TV-D1 mission. Its purpose was to demonstrate the crew escape system for Gaganyaan. The vehicle attained a speed that was a little more than the speed of sound… all systems, including the parachutes, performed nominally to allow the crew module to touch down in the sea at the required velocity.”