Gaganyaan: ISRO’s Parachute Test Boosts Human-Rating Standards | 06 Dec 2025

Source: PIB 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)  has successfully conducted the Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test (IMAT) — a crucial milestone in preparing India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled for Q1 2027. The test reinforces ISRO’s human-rating protocols and astronaut safety preparedness. 

Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test ( IMAT) 

• About:  
  • IMAT is a crucial test conducted by ISRO for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.  
  • It involves dropping the full-scale parachute system from a high altitude to verify its performance during re-entry and landing. 
  • Success of IMAT brings India closer to launching its first human spaceflight. 
• Features:  
  • Simulates extreme descent conditions, including delayed parachute opening. 
  • Checks structural strength, load-bearing, and stability under stress. 
  • Crucial part of human-rating certification to ensure astronaut safety·     

Gaganyaan Mission 

• About: India’s first human spaceflight program, aiming to send a crew of 3 astronauts to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at 400 km for 3 days and return them safely to Earth. 
  • Includes unmanned test missions followed by the first manned mission expected to happen in early 2027. 
• Significance: Gaganyaan success will place India among the elite group of nations (US, Russia, China) with human spaceflight capability. 
• Key Technologies for Crew Safety: 
  • Human-Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3): It is a modified version of ISRO's LVM3 rocket. It includes solid, liquid, and cryogenic stages, re-configured to meet human rating requirements.  
    • The rocket is capable of launching the Orbital Module to a Low Earth Orbit (400 km) and features a Crew Escape System (CES) with high burn rate solid motors to ensure crew safety during emergencies at launch or ascent. 
    • CES ensures safe abort in case of emergencies during launch or ascent. 
  • Orbital Module (OM): Houses the Crew Module (CM) and Service Module (SM) with life support, avionics, and propulsion systems. 
    • The CM is a habitable space with an Earth-like environment, with a pressurized inner structure and unpressurized external structure.  
    • The SM supports the CM in orbit, providing thermal, propulsion, power systems, avionics, and deployment mechanisms, but remains unpressurized.