Aug 25, 2025: Sunday, the first integrated air drop test (IADT-01) for the Gaganyaan mission's parachute-based deceleration system was completed successfully by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). ISRO, the Indian Air Force, DRDO, the Navy, and the Indian Coast Guard collaborated on this test, the organization stated. Dr. V Narayanan, Chairman of ISRO, stated on August 21 that the upcoming test for the Gaganyaan mission would include an integrated air drop test in which a helicopter would drop the crew capsule from an altitude of approximately 3.5 to 4 kilometers. The test is important to ensure that the crew can safely and smoothly return to Earth from space. ISRO had developed this as part of pre-project activities of the human spaceflight project well before the official Gaganyaan project was approved in 2019.
ISRO received the crew module structure simulated assembly in May 2023 for the Integrated Air-Drop Test, which was intended to validate the sequence and performance of the Gaganyaan mission's parachute systems. The module was designed by the Human Space Flight Centre, ISRO.
The Department of Space has constituted a high-level review committee to closely monitor the progress of the activities leading to the launch of India’s human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.
“Flight integration activities for various propulsion stages of the HLVM3 launch vehicle have been completed and the launch campaign commenced. Currently, crew module and service module mechanical and electrical integration activities are underway. Additionally, orbital module and thermovac integration tests, dynamic and acoustic tests, and complex launch activities like propellant filling and integrated checks must be completed, according to ISRO officials. A parliamentary panel was recently informed by the government that private businesses had made significant contributions to the human space program. In its report, the Centre stated that Indian industry was producing the majority of the Gaganyaan program's hardware. These included motor cases, propellant tanks, engines, structures, realization of various subsystems of indigenous environment control and life support system, avionics packages, simulated crew module, crew module recovery models and virtual reality-based training simulators.