India took another step toward its first-ever human spaceflight last week, successfully testing the parachute system for its Gaganyaan astronaut capsule.

The test occurred on Nov. 3, using an Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft and a capsule mass simulator that tipped the scales at 7.2 tons (6.5 metric tons).

The plane took off from Babina Field Firing Range, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It dropped the dummy capsule at an altitude of 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers), forcing the Gaganyaan parachutes into action.

There are 10 of those chutes on the Gaganyaan capsule, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) — two that remove the protective cover of the chute compartment, two "drogues" that both stabilize and slow the vehicle's descent, and three "pilots" that extract t

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