The Indian Space Research Organisation said on 16 October 2026 that it had completed a series of Crew Module–Service Module separation tests for the Gaganyaan programme at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. ISRO said the tests validated the design adequacy of the separation system, which detaches the crew module from the service module before re-entry.
The team used a heavily instrumented set-up that simulated the combined crew module and service module assembly. The tests reproduced the separation sequence, including the severing of several umbilical connections between the two modules. They also checked how well critical crew-module systems withstand the shock of separation, including the avionics, the inertial navigation systems, the thermal protection on the aft and conical heat shields, the crew module’s deployable umbilical shield, and the pyrotechnic devices for the uprighting system and the thermal and humidity control system.
ISRO said the results show the subsystems are robust and can survive the shock, and that the tests give the confidence needed in the separation system. It said the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission, known as G1, is “targeted for launch in 2026”. The agency has not given a firm launch date in this statement.
The crew module is the part of the spacecraft that carries astronauts, and it is the only section designed to return to Earth. The service module provides propulsion and power. Getting separation right is essential for a safe return, which is why ISRO validates it on the ground before flight.
Gaganyaan is India’s human spaceflight programme. The G1 flight will be uncrewed, and later missions are meant to carry Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit.
Sources: ISRO: Crew Module-Service Module separation tests.
Featured image: A dummy Gaganyaan crew module used in an earlier ISRO test (cropped). Photo by Indian Space Research Organisation, licensed under GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons.
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