Indian space agency ISRO said on Saturday that it has successfully conducted the first hot test of the System Demonstration Model of the Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the hot test was conducted for a duration of 450 seconds at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Gaganyaan is the name for India's human space mission.

The system performance met the test objectives and there was a close match with the pre-test predictions, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said in a statement. “Further, a series of hot tests are planned to simulate various mission conditions as well as off-nominal conditions," ISRO said.

The Service Module (SM) is part of the Gaganyaan Orbital module and is located below the crew module and remains connected to it until re-entry, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) explained. The SM Propulsion System consists of a unified bipropellant system consisting of five numbers of 440 N thrust engines and 16 numbers of 100 N Reaction Control system (RCS) thrusters with MON-3 and MMH as Oxidizer and Fuel respectively.

"The SDM, consisting of five numbers of 440 N engines and eight numbers of 100 N thrusters, was realised to qualify the propulsion system performance in ground. A new test facility is established at IPRC, Mahendragiri for testing the SDM", the statement added.

The Service Module Propulsion System consists of a unified bipropellant system comprising five 440 N thrust engines and 16 100 N Reaction Control system (RCS) thrusters with MON-3 (mixed oxides of nitrogen) and MMH (mono methyl hydrazine) as oxidizer and fuel, respectively. The System Demonstration Model, consisting of five 440 N engines and eight 100 N thrusters, was realised to qualify the propulsion system performance on ground.

A new test facility has been established at IPRC, Mahendragiri, for testing System Demonstration Model.