Chennai’s KCP – Heavy Engineering Unit has delivered the first Integrated Air Drop Test – Crew Module structure (IADT-CM) to ISRO. Dr. V.L. Indira Dutt, Chairperson and Managing Director of The KCP Group, handed it over to Mr. R. Hutton, Acting Director of Human Space Flight Centre at ISRO’s KCP-Heavy Engineering Unit facility in Thiruvotriyur.

ISRO ordered two IADT crew module structures to assess technology readiness for the Gaganyaan spacecraft, India’s inaugural human space flight program. The first, weighing 3,120 kg and made of aluminium and steel, was fabricated at KCP’s Thiruvotriyur facility. It will be used for parachute system, pyros, avionics, and buoyancy augmentation system testing. KCP’s infrastructure and expertise made this complex task possible.

The Gaganyaan Mission aims to send a crew of two to three members on a 3-day mission to a 400 km orbit, returning safely to Indian sea waters. The CM structure simulates the Gaganyaan crew module, and the Integrated Air Drop Test will validate the deceleration system using an Indian Air Force helicopter at an altitude of 3.6 to 4 km.