ISRO Achieves Historic Space Docking with SpaDeX Mission

SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation completed the process of docking of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites on January 12, 2025. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on December 30, 2024. As per the record, India becomes the fourth country to do this feat after the United States, Russia, and China.

In a celebration post on 'X', ISRO announced, "India docked its name in space history! Good Morning India ISRO's SpaDeX mission accomplished historic docking success." The procedure of docking began with the maneuver that took the two spacecraft from 15 m and then settled at the 3-m hold point before starting the docking sequence. According to the agency, the spacecraft capture was executed with precision, followed by a smooth retraction and stabilization.

The PSLV C60 successfully launched two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), along with other 24 payloads. Both the satellites were placed in a 475 km circular orbit, about 15 minutes after the launch, of approximately 220 kg in mass.

 ISRO claims that the SpaDeX mission is a low-cost in-space demonstration of docking technology-an important part of planned future missions where multiple rocket launches are used to accomplish common objectives. The agency confirmed that the control of the two satellites as a single entity was also successful after the successful docking. Checks on undocking and power transfer are planned for the coming days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO on this significant achievement, which was very important for India's future space endeavors.

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