Gaganyaan G2: L&T delivers Coimbatore-made crew escape shroud

11 November 2026 · English Tamil Nadu

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Current affairs of 11 November 2026 (Shanmugam IAS Academy) – explained for UPSC, TNPSC and other competitive exams

News

Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) Precision Engineering and Systems unit in Coimbatore built and handed over to ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, the fourth set of the Crew Escape Ogive Shroud (CEOS) – part of Gaganyaan's Crew Escape System, which pulls the astronauts safely away from the rocket in an emergency. It is meant for G2, Gaganyaan's second uncrewed mission; L&T announced on 6 November 2026 that it was delivered ahead of schedule. Company officials said the firm has also built the pitch motor compartment, the crew module, the launch escape system structure and thrust transfer structures for the G1 and G2 missions. ISRO aims to send humans to space next year; four astronaut-designates are in training.

Key facts for the exam

Background

• Gaganyaan is India's first human spaceflight programme, announced by the Prime Minister in his 2018 Independence Day speech. The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), set up in Bengaluru in January 2019, leads it. The human-rated LVM3 (HLVM3) will carry three astronauts to an orbit of about 400 km for three days. The first uncrewed flight, G1, will carry 'Vyommitra', a female-looking humanoid robot.
• Crew Escape System: if the rocket fails on the pad or during ascent, quick-burning solid motors pull the crew module away, and parachutes then bring it safely down into the sea. The cone-shaped 'ogive shroud' protects the crew module from aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent. After the Pad Abort Test of 5 July 2018, an in-flight abort was successfully tested by Test Vehicle TV-D1, launched from Sriharikota on 21 October 2023.
• Astronauts: four Indian Air Force officers – Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla – were named on 27 February 2024. Rakesh Sharma, who flew on the Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984, was the first Indian in space. A 'Bharatiya Antariksh Station' by 2035 and an Indian on the Moon by 2040 are the next goals.

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Sources: Daily Thanthi; Dinamalar; Voice&Data; ISRO; PIB; Deccan Herald (astronaut-designates). Compiled by Shanmugam IAS Academy.

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