'Australia to set up space tracking terminal in Cocos Keeling for Gaganyaan mission': Albanese

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced the setting up of a space tracking terminal in the country's Cocos Keeling Islands to help India's Gaganyaan mission.

"As we expand our cooperation in space and technology, we have agreed to commission a temporary space tracking terminal on Cocos Keeling Islands, which will support India's landmark Gaganyaan Human Space Flight program," Albanese said during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi met his Australian counterpart during the second leg of his three-nation tour. The two leaders appeared to share a warm handshake as they posed in front of the media in Melbourne.

Gaganyaan on the move

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted a critical test on the main parachutes for the Gaganyaan's crew module.

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The test was carried out at the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) drop zone in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday.

"The objective of this test was to qualify the main parachute for its structural integrity and design margins under the maximum expected load conditions in the first uncrewed Gaganyaan G1 mission," ISRO said in a statement on Wednesday.

During the test, a simulated assembly of a single main parachute and a dummy mass was dropped from an altitude of 2.5 km using an Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft.

Upon release, a drogue parachute was deployed. These types of parachutes are known to stabilise the crew module and reduce its velocity significantly.

Subsequently, the main parachute was deployed, slowing the payload to a safe terminal speed.

"This is the 5th test in a series of integrated main parachute airdrop tests (IMAT) to qualify the critical main parachute for the Gaganyaan Mission. The successful completion of IMAT-05 provides necessary confidence in the performance and reliability of the Main Parachute System for the first Uncrewed Gaganyaan Mission (G1)," said ISRO.