ISRO has successfully demonstrated a new technology with the IAD.

Inflatable Aerodynamic Deceleration (IAD) was successfully test fired by the ISRO. The IAD will be used to land payloads on Mars or Venus in the future.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully demonstrated a new technology with the Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD).
• Designed and developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), the IAD is a game-changer with many applications for future missions including Mars and Venus.
• The IAD was successfully test-fired in a ‘Rohini’ sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.
• The IAD was initially folded and placed inside the rocket’s payload bay. At an altitude of about 84 km, the IAD was inflated and it descended through the atmosphere with the payload portion of a sounding rocket.