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Gaganyaan TV-D1: ISRO Releases Video Of First Developmental Test Flight From Launch To Recovery

October 22, 2023
Bharat Times

Gaganyaan TV-D1: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released a video showing how Gaganyaan’s first developmental test flight was conducted, from launch to recovery. Known as the Test Development Flight Mission-1 (TV-D1), the first uncrewed flight test of ISRO’s ambitious Gaganyaan programme was launched on October 21, 2023, at 10:00 am IST, from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Also called the Test Flight Abort Mission-1, TV-D1 is significant because it demonstrated the performance of the Crew Escape System. 

ISRO aims to conduct more uncrewed flight tests in the future as part of the first leg of Gaganyaan. After all the flight tests under the first leg are completed, ISRO will launch a humanoid robot Vyommitra as part of the second leg of Gaganyaan. 

Here is ISRO’s video shared by news agency ANI on X (formerly Twitter). 

In the video shared by ISRO, one can see the Crew Module and the Crew Escape System lifting off from Earth atop a single-stage, liquid propelled rocket equipped with a modified engine. One can also see the propulsion system, the Crew Module, and the Crew Escape System in flight. In about 60 seconds, the Crew Module and the Crew Escape System reached an altitude of 11.7 kilometres. At that time, the speed of the Crew Module was 1.2 times the speed of sound. This is 360 metres per second, also called Mach number 1.2. 

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The Crew Escape System jettisoned, and took the Crew Module to an altitude of 16.7 kilometres. The engines of the Crew Escape System were fired. The apex cover of the Crew Module was removed at that altitude, three drogue parachutes were deployed, and its speed decreased from about 150 metres per second to 50-60 metres per second. 

When the Crew Module came down to an altitude of less than 2.5 kilometres, the main parachute was deployed. During the last moments, when the Crew Module was about to touch down on the sea, and was about nine metres above sea level, the velocity was about 8.5 metres per second. 

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After this, the Crew Module successfully splashed down in the Bay of Bengal, and people from the Indian Navy recovered the vessel from a location about 10 kilometres from the coast of Sriharikota.

If all goes to plan, ISRO will launch humans as part of the Gaganyaan programme by the first quarter of 2025. 

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