Indian experimental subscale Discoverer-type re-entry capsule. A testbed for a projected $ 3 billion Indian project to orbit a manned spacecraft by 2014.

The capsule was also used to orbit microgravity experiments. Avionics included a mission management unit, attitude sensors, an inertial measurement unit, an S-band transponder using a belt array antenna, a battery-powered electrical system, an instrumentation package, accelerometers and barometers to support the recovery sequence, and a flotation system. It also houses two microgravity payloads. The Discovery-type capsule was a blunt cone with a spherical nose of 500 cm radius, flaring to a base diameter of 2 m. The nose cap was of ablative phenolic resin while the rest of the capsule was covered with black silica tiles.

Length: 1.60 m (5.20 ft). Basic Diameter: 2.00 m (6.50 ft). Mass: 550 kg (1,210 lb).

• 2007 January 10 - SRE-1 - Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle: PSLV. Mass: 550 kg (1,210 lb). Perigee: 620 km (380 mi). Apogee: 643 km (399 mi). Inclination: 97.90 deg. Period: 97.40 min.

  India's Space Recovery Experiment-1 India's SRE-1 first lowered to its orbit to 485 km x 643 km on January 20. A 10-minute deorbit burn began at 03:30 GMT on January 22, with re-entry beginning at 04:07 and a successful splashdown at 04:16 GMT in the Bay of Bengal near 13.3 N / 81.4E. The capsule was successfully recovered by the Indian Navy. The capsule returned two microgravity payloads as well as proving basic technologies for any eventual Indian manned space program. It was also announced that the capsule could be used to orbit further microgravity payloads at low cost to customers.