New Delhi: India became the fourth country, after the US, Russia and China, to successfully execute the SpaDeX docking experiment on Thursday (January 16). ISRO announced the success in a post on X.
“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. Retraction completed smoothly, followed by rigidisation for stability. Docking successfully completed. India became the 4th country to achieve successful Space Docking. Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India!” the post read.
The two satellites SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) – launched by the PSLV C60 on December 30, 2024 – executed the manoeuvre under the watch of officials from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC).
The space research organisation also said that after docking and control of two satellites as a single object is successful, undocking and power transfer checks will follow in the coming days.
On January 12, ISRO had moved the satellites within 15 metres and then 3 metres of each other in a trial attempt. It had then moved the spacecraft back to safe distance.
Docking is a complex process, designed to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for spacecraft rendezvous, docking and undocking using two small satellites.
The demonstration of this technology is essential for future missions such as sending an Indian astronaut on the Moon, sample return from the Moon, the building and operation of the Indian Space Station, the Hindu reported.
“After successful docking and rigidisation, electrical power transfer between the two satellites will be demonstrated before undocking and separation of the two satellites to start the operation of their respective payloads for the expected mission life of up to two years,” ISRO said.
The SpaDeX docking was originally scheduled on January 7 but was postponed to January 9. It was postponed a second time when the drift between the two satellites was found to be more than expected.
