Lucknow: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday successfully docked satellites under ‘Space Docking Experiment’ (Spadex). ISRO said in a post on social media platform ‘X’, “India has registered its name in space history. Good morning India, ISRO’s Spadex mission has achieved historic success in ‘docking’. It is a proud moment to witness this.”
Earlier on January 12, ISRO brought two spacecraft to a distance of three meters as part of the test of ‘docking’ the satellites and then sent them back to a safe distance. ISRO successfully launched the ‘Space Docking Experiment’ (Spadex) mission on December 30, 2024. The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites, SDX01 (chaser) and SDX02 (target) with 24 payloads, took off from the first ‘launchpad’ of Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota and about 15 minutes after take-off, two small spacecraft weighing about 220 kg were launched in a targeted manner into a circular orbit of 475 km.
According to ISRO, the Spadex mission is an economical technology mission for ‘docking’ in space using two small spacecraft, which were launched through PSLV. ‘Docking’ technology in space is necessary when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. This technology is essential for India’s space ambitions such as Indian mission to the Moon, bringing back samples from the Moon, building and operating the Indian Space Station (BAS) etc. Through this mission, India is poised to become the fourth country in the world to have space docking technology.
