ISRO completes more ground tests of its Gaganyaan capsule, confirming launch delay
Artist rendering of India’s Gaganyaan capsule
India’s space agency ISRO yesterday announced it has successfully completed three qualification tests of engineering required by its manned Gaganyaan capsule during re-entry and splashdown.
First, it successfully tested the system that will disconnect the electrical and fuel lines between the crew module and its service module just before re-entry. Next it tested the structural integrity of the capsule during the release of its parachute cover and deployment of the parachutes during descent. Finally, it tested the balloon system that will inflate upon splashdown to make sure the capsule stays upright.
That ISRO is only testing these items now confirms what was rumored in December 2025 and in February 2026. Though government officials in January 2026 claimed the first unmanned test flight of Gaganyaan would take place in March 2026, apparently the agency’s management had already decided further testing and redesign was necessary after drop tests in late 2025, and that such unmanned test flights would be delayed at least a year, with the manned flight probably pushed back to 2028.
Once again, the problem here is not the required redesign and new testing. It is good they are doing the right due diligence to make sure everything works. The problem is the lack of transparency and the refusal to say honestly the present state of the schedule. All we get are contradictory hints that only serve to cause distrust, which in turn serve to discredit the agency.
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They will get everything sorted out. China is on their doorstep…catching boosters and launching craft to their new space station.
Here is where national pride matters.
When you have a loose consortium like ESA where everyone looks to the other guy to step up–no one does. Nationalism strengthens–internationalism weakens.
That and relying on anything Bezos promises.