Tata Elxsi to build crew recovery models for ISRO’s Gaganyaan Mission

Design and technology company Tata Elxsi has partnered with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the upcoming Gaganyaan Mission. Under the partnership, Tata Elxsi will be designing and developing the Crew Module Recovery Models (CMRM) for the mission. This also marks Tata Elxsi’s foray into mechanical design for space. Two Recovery-Models (CMRM and GSF) have been delivered to Naval training teams at Kochi and Visakhapatnam to train the recovery teams.

ISRO’s Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by launching a three-member crew onto an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back to Earth safely by landing in Indian sea waters. The CMRMs are mockup models, which simulate details of mass, centre of gravity, outer dimensions, interfaces, and externals of the actual Crew Module.

Towards this, Tata Elxsi is undertaking activities like developing the design configuration according to ISRO’s requirement, doing structural analysis for different load cases, material procurement and testing, fabrication, carrying out load tests, and transportation of the CMRM and the Ground Support Fixture (GSF).

“Tata Elxsi has carried out the design and delivered hardware meeting a highly challenging delivery schedule of six months, demonstrating excellent program management skills. This has enabled timely commissioning recovery training exercises to meet Gaganyaan mission requirements. ISRO would definitely like to partner in the future for different projects,” said Umamaheshwaran, Director-Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), ISRO said.

“This collaboration will help push the boundaries of technology, and provide us a unique opportunity to advance our capabilities while strengthening India’s space mission,” said Manoj Raghavan, chief executive officer and managing director, Tata Elxsi.

In February, ISRO partnered with Indian Navy to conduct a series of tests to recover a mock crew module from a closed pool. The tests were carried out at the Water Survival Test Facility, a location owned by the Indian Navy in Kochi.