SOLVE Solid Motor Ground Test: ISRO’s Gaganyaan Parachute Rig
Why in the news
ISRO fired the new SOLVE solid motor on a static stand at Sriharikota on 3 July 2026. The test, called SOLVE-ST01, was the first ground trial and confirmed the motor’s design and operating parameters.
Key facts
- Place: Static Test Facility, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- Name: Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle for Experiments (SOLVE), a solid-motor-driven sub-orbital rocket used as a test platform.
- Mission: Integrated Parachute Tests (IPTs) of the Gaganyaan crew module’s parachute-based deceleration system.
- Flight plan: carry the module to 10-17 km, separate it, deploy 10 parachutes in a sequence, then splash down in the sea.
- Motor design: solid stage derived from the PSLV Strap-on Motor, modified with slow burn-rate propellant and a straight nozzle using Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC).
- Flexibility: modular set-up lets ISRO mimic different flight conditions of the real Gaganyaan mission.
Other recent Gaganyaan tests
| Test | What it covered |
|---|---|
| IADT-02 (Second Integrated Air Drop Test) | Main parachute air-drop; showed robustness even in failure scenarios |
| Mission MITRA (Leh, Ladakh) | About one week; four designated Indian astronauts plus scientists, engineers and medical teams; studied response to isolation, altitude and physical stress |
| TV-D1 (Test Vehicle – Demonstration 1) | First Crew Escape System test, October 2023; successful |
MITRA stands for Mapping of Interoperable Traits and Response Assessment.
About the Gaganyaan mission
- Announced by PM Narendra Modi on 15 August 2018 in his Independence Day speech.
- Name joins Gagan (sky) and Yaan (vehicle); aim is India’s first indigenous human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit and a safe return.
- Nodal centre: VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram; rocket: HLVM3, the human-rated form of LVM3.
- Planned orbit: 400 km LEO; mission length 3-7 days; splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
- Vyommitra (Vyom + Mitra), a female-featured humanoid robot, will fly on the first uncrewed flight (G1) to simulate crew tasks and monitor cabin conditions.
- Only the USA, Russia and China can currently fly crews on their own; India would be fourth.
- Indians in space: Rakesh Sharma (Soyuz T-11 to Salyut 7, April 1984) and Shubhanshu Shukla (Ax-4 to ISS, June-July 2025).
About ISRO and SDSC-SHAR
- ISRO: formed 15 August 1969 from INCOSPAR (1962); HQ Bengaluru; under the Department of Space; Chairman Dr V. Narayanan since 14 January 2025, after S. Somanath.
- Vikram Sarabhai is called the Father of India’s Space Programme.
- SDSC-SHAR: Sriharikota Island on the Bay of Bengal coast; set up 1971; renamed after Satish Dhawan in 2002; India’s primary spaceport.
Exam angle
- SOLVE is sub-orbital; it does not place anything in a 400 km orbit.
- Remember: SOLVE-ST01, 3 July 2026, parachute testing, PSLV strap-on heritage.
- Gaganyaan splashdown is at sea (Indian Ocean), launcher HLVM3.
- Related terms: IADT, MITRA, TV-D1, Vyommitra.