ISRO successfully carries out tests of Gaganyaan crew module systems

📌 Summary:

• ISRO on Sunday (July 12, 2026) said it successfully carried out three major tests of the Gaganyaan crew module systems
• The first test validated the mechanism ensuring the crew module attains an upright position after splashdown in the sea — one of the most critical crew-safety requirements
• The tests advance India's first indigenous human spaceflight programme, which aims to send a crew to Low Earth Orbit and return them safely

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (Science & Technology — Space; achievements and indigenisation). Gaganyaan underpins India's crewed-spaceflight capability, relevant to space technology, self-reliance and recovery/safety engineering.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Gaganyaan is India's first human spaceflight mission, led by ISRO
• Crew Module + Service Module together form the Orbital Module; the crew module re-enters the atmosphere and is recovered after sea splashdown
• Post-splashdown self-righting (upright-orientation) systems are a key recovery-phase safety feature

🔑 Key Term: Crew Module — the pressurised re-entry capsule of Gaganyaan that carries astronauts to orbit and returns them, protected by a thermal shield during descent and recovered after splashdown.