Test vehicle launch: Crew Module successfully recovered, says ISRO Chief

The Navy also confirmed that its personnel from the Eastern Naval command recovered the Crew Module from the Bay of Bengal.

Chennai: The Crew Module of the Test Flight-D1 Mission, launched on Saturday, has been successfully recovered from the sea, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said on Saturday.

ISRO had successfully launched TV-D1 test vehicle ahead of the human space flight mission Gaganyaan. The Crew module had seperated from the rocket and splashed into the Bay of Bengal as planned.

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The Navy also confirmed that its personnel from the Eastern Naval command recovered the Crew Module from the Bay of Bengal.

Talking to reporters here, Somanath said, “Crew Module is now fully recovered from the sea. It is brought to the Chennai Port”.

“Everything is fine, all are nominal. There was no anomaly”, he said, adding that the landing of the Crew Module was much lower than expected.

“It means really good. All data is very good”, he added.

Asked what would be the next course of action, Somanath said ISRO would hold a series of tests for the Gaganyaan Mission.

“There are 20 major tests. One by one we are doing it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Navy said the “Eastern Naval Command units recovered the Crew Module — a path paved by extensive planning, training of Naval divers, formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and joint communication by combined teams of Navy and ISRO.” The Eastern Naval Command also shared an image of the recovery of the Crew Module in a social media post along with the personnel who were engaged in the recovery.

Earlier in the day, ISRO after facing initial glitch leading to a delay in lift-off, successfully launched a test vehicle with payloads related to the country’s ambitious Gaganyaan programme.

Scientists simulated an abort situation for the Crew Escape System to carry the Crew Module of the test vehicle out as they made a splash into the Bay of Bengal with planned precision.