ISRO on Saturday successfully demonstrated a new technology with Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) that it said is a game-changer with multiple applications for future missions including to Mars and Venus. An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a 'Rohini' sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). The IAD was initially folded and kept inside the payload bay of the rocket, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). At around 84 km altitude, the IAD was inflated and it descended through atmosphere with the payload part of sounding rocket. The pneumatic system for inflation was developed by ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), it said. The IAD has systematically reduced the velocity of the payload through aerodynamic drag and followed the predicted trajectory. "This is the first time that an IAD is designed specifically for spe
The two ambitious missions will launch between 2028 and 2030
ISRO chairman K Sivan and CNES president Jean-Yves Le Gall held talks and reviewed the areas driving cooperation between France and India in space
Reading between the lines of the report, it seems that the team was not expecting to find phosphine
The capacity of the proposed spacecraft is likely to be about 100 kilogrammes with approximately 500 Watts of power
A mission to Venus is both challenging and rewarding