How will Gaganyaan astronauts return safely to earth? | Explained

The crew module, where the astronauts reside, orbits the earth at a high velocity of about 7,800 m/s. When the module returns to the earth and re-enters the atmosphere, it faces the challenge of shedding its kinetic energy. Atmospheric drag itself acts as the primary brake and takes away the majority of its energy, through aerobraking. To further reduce its velocity for a soft landing, a multi-stage parachute system, initiated by pyro-actuated mortars, is deployed once the module reaches desired altitude (below 12 km).

A typical recovery system includes all the items required to soft-land the module in sea or on land after the aero braking phase. This includes parachutes, locating devices to find out where the module has splashed down and the up-righting system to keep the orientation of the module in the favourable direction in case of a sea landing. The SpaceX-Dragon, Gaganyaan and NASA Orion crew modules are typical examples for sea landing.