'ISRO spirit' in country, moon mission has united India: PM Modi
Rohtak: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said an "ISRO spirit" has gripped the country, which has been united by the moon mission Chandrayaan-2, and the nation now looks beyond success and failure.
He was addressing the BJP's 'Vijay Sankalp' rally here, kicking off the party's campaign for the assembly elections in Haryana, scheduled in October.
"On the night of September 7, 100 seconds after 1.50 am an incident awakened and united the entire country. Like (there is) a sportsman spirit, an ISRO spirit is running in the country. Countrymen are not ready to accept negativity," Modi said.
Recalling the early of hours of Saturday, when Chandrayaan-2's lander was scheduled to make a soft landing on the moon but suffered a setback, the prime minister said at 1.50 am, the entire country was sitting in front of television screens to watch the good news of Chandrayaan-2.
"In those 100 seconds whatever the country did, it reflected the mettle of 125 crore countrymen," said Modi, who had flown to Bengaluru to watch the planned touchdown of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) lander 'Vikram'.
India's mission to soft-land on the moon suffered a setback, with 'Vikram' losing communication with ground stations, just 2.1 km from the lunar surface during its final descent. However, Sunday the ISRO said Vikram has been located on the lunar surface and it must have been a hard-landing,
"The country, which has the strength to live for its resolutions, imbibes the ISRO spirit," Modi said, adding that "the 100 seconds showed the entire country what is the power of hope and belief, and what is determination and capacity."
He said only that country is able to fulfil its dream which lives beyond the limits of successes and failures. The country changed the definition of success and failure in those 100 seconds, Modi said.
"Now, the country prays for courage and valour. The country is moving ahead with a faith in change," he said.
The people of India are lucky that there is a energy and a feeling in the country which "will fulfil our resolve", the prime minister said.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
