ISRO conducts Rail Track rocket sled deployment tests of Gaganyaan Pilot, ACS parachutes

At the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) conducted the rail-track rocket sled deployment tests of the Gaganyaan Pilot and Apex Cover Separation (ACS) parachutes in cluster configurations on March 1 and 3, 2023, according to ANI.

ISRO released an official statement, saying that the first test replicated the clustered deployment of two pilot parachutes: one was subjected to flow conditions at a minimum angle, while the other was at a maximum angle with respect to flow.

"The test also simulated clustered deployment at a 90-degree angle of attack conditions for the crew module. The ACS parachutes are used in the Gaganyaan mission to separate the apex cover mounted on the Crew Module. Both pilot and ACS parachutes were deployed using a pyrotechnic mortar device. The Gaganyaan parachute system development has been a joint effort by VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra," the Indian space agency said. 

The commercial arm of ISRO, NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL), intends to increase the number of missions it completes annually with its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). The state-run corporation has so far produced three SSLV rockets, according to Radhakrishnan Durairaj, chairman and managing director of NSIL, and following the early-year success of the first rocket, it has begun approaching private clients about satellite launch contracts. 

The SSLV is the first small, domestic rocket to reach low-Earth orbit (LEO), which is located around 700 kilometres above the surface of the planet. Payload, or the satellites that a light rocket can launch into space, has a capacity of roughly 500 kg. Up to 2,000 kg of cargo may normally be carried by larger rockets like Isro's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).