The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully carried out the first flight tests of its Stratospheric Airship Platform. These trials took place at the Sheopur Trial Site in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.

The airship, developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) in Agra, was launched with an instrumental payload and reached an altitude of around 17 kilometres. Data from onboard sensors were collected during the flight and will help create detailed simulation models for future high-altitude airship missions.

The flight also tested the performance of the envelope pressure control and emergency deflation systems, which were activated as part of the experiment. After the flight, the system was recovered for further examination. The flight lasted for approximately 62 minutes, according to reports. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO on the successful trial and said, "This system will significantly enhance India's Earth observation, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, positioning India among the few nations globally with such indigenous high-altitude platforms." 

Dr. Samir V Kamat, Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, also expressed his congratulations to the team for their remarkable efforts. He emphasised that the successful flight of the prototype marks an important milestone in the development of lighter-than-air platforms, capable of flying at very high altitudes for long periods, reaching stratospheric heights.