SpaDeX satellites holding position at 15m (image:x.com/isro)
New Delhi: Marking a major milestone, India on Thursday (January 16) became the fourth country to successfully dock satellite in space. As part of its SpaDeX mission, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) conducted the experiment in the wee hours. The US, Russia and China are the only three countries that currently developed and tested the docking capability.
“Spacecraft docking successfully completed! A historic moment,” Space Agency said in a post on X.
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SpaDeX Docking Update:
🌟Docking Success
Spacecraft docking successfully completed! A historic moment.
Let’s walk through the SpaDeX docking process:
Manoeuvre from 15m to 3m hold point completed. Docking initiated with precision, leading to successful spacecraft capture.…
— ISRO (@isro) January 16, 2025
The SpaDeX mission deployed two satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), weighing around 220 kilograms each, into low-earth orbit. The two spacecraft blasted off from the Sriharikota launch pad in Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh on December 30 on a single rocket.
Though space agency attempted to dock satellites on January 7 and on January 9 it got postponed due to technical challenges. Then, ISRO attempted to dock on January 11 but it was aborted moments before the docking. However, after careful evaluations, the space agency confirmed that both satellites were in good health and ready for the docking process.
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The space agency has a petal-based docking system, aligned with international standards including the International Docking System Standard (IDSS).
The successful docking experiment opens way for Chandrayaan-4 mission and it involves many docking and undocking exercises, both in the earth orbit and the lunar orbit. “The immediate one is Chandrayaan 4 but later for the space station planned for India,” a former ISRO official told Indian Express.
