Overview

• On August 24, ISRO’s IADT-1 dropped a 4.8-tonne dummy crew module from an Indian Air Force Chinook at roughly 3 km to exercise the end‑to‑end recovery sequence.
• The 10‑parachute system deployed in stages as designed, cutting the capsule’s speed to about 8 m/s for splashdown with touchdown conditions matching predictions.
• ISRO said recovery operations were executed after splashdown with coordinated roles from the Air Force, DRDO, the Navy and the Coast Guard, while VSSC led most activities.
• The air‑drop trial does not reproduce re‑entry heating or full high‑speed dynamics, which will be validated through sub‑orbital and orbital flights.
• The success clears a key risk and sets up the TV‑D2 abort simulation in Q3 2025 followed by the uncrewed Gaganyaan‑1 orbital mission targeted for Q4 2025.