India is preparing its crew capsule for human spaceflight

The drogue parachutes are mortar-deployed conical ribbon-type parachutes, each with a diameter of roughly 19 feet (5.8 meters). Once operational, they will safely bring the Gaganyaan crew module back to the ground.

Once completed, the Gaganyaan crew module will slow down on reentry into Earth's atmosphere via a system of 10 parachutes, ISRO explains.

These include two apex cover separation parachutes and two drogue parachutes used to stabilize the module during descent. Three pilot chutes will then each deploy three main chutes ahead of landing.

Mission Gaganyaan:

🔸VSSC/ISRO, in collaboration with ADRDE/ @DRDO_India , successfully conducted Drogue Parachute Deployment Tests at the RTRS facility in Chandigarh.

🔸Drogue parachutes, armed with pyro-based mortars, stabilize and decelerate the crew module during re-entry… pic.twitter.com/q9AN3jAxYN

— ISRO (@isro) August 12, 2023

According to ISRO's statement, the drogue chutes "play a pivotal role in stabilizing the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during reentry."

ISRO has stated that the drogue chutes will next be tested during a high-altitude abort test called Test Vehicle Demonstration 1 (TV-D1), scheduled for late September or early October.

India's far-reaching space ambitions

Earlier this year, India's space agency also conducted recovery tests as part of a collaboration with the Indian navy. During those tests, they recovered a mock crew module from a closed pool.

ISRO will also carry out two uncrewed flight tests to validate Gaganyaan's technology in low Earth orbit. It will also test the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket, which launched its successful Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission, to make sure it is prepared for human spaceflight. The first of those test flights is scheduled for late 2023, and the second for the first half of 2024.

If all goes according to plan, the first crewed Gaganyaan flight could launch as soon as late 2024. That mission will carry three Indian astronauts on a short orbital test flight.

Shortly after the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing, India's Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, said India will now "look into a human flight mission as well for the future", adding that the country "is showing and proving that the sky is not the limit."

Chandrayaan-3 made India the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon after the former Soviet Union, the US, and China. If the Gaganyaan program is a success, it will also see India join Russia, the US, and China in the small list of nations capable of sending humans to space.