India becomes fourth country to achieve space docking, announces ISRO

BENGALURU: In its first, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday morning announced that the much-awaited satellite docking has been concluded, with India becoming the fourth country to do the same. “India became the 4th country to achieve successful Space Docking. Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India”, ISRO posted on X.

The Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) docking process completed manoeuvring from 15 meters to 3 metres hold point with precision, leading to successful spacecraft capture. “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 was initiated with precision, leading to successful spacecraft capture. Retraction was completed smoothly, followed by rigidisation for stability. Docking successfully completed”, ISRO announced.

Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary DOS, Chairman Space Commission and Chairman ISRO, congratulated the team ISRO.#SPADEX #ISRO pic.twitter.com/WlPL8GRzNu

— ISRO (@isro) January 16, 2025

Isro further said, “Post docking, control of two satellites as a single object is successful. Undocking and power transfer checks to follow in coming days”.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said this paves the way for the smooth conduct of ambitious future missions including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station and Chandrayaan 4. “Congrats #ISRO. Finally made it. SPADEX has accomplished the unbelievable… docking complete… and it is all indigenous “Bharatiya Docking System”. This paves the way for smooth conduct of ambitious future missions including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station and Chandrayaan 4 & Gaganyaan. PM Sh@narendramodi’s continuous patronage keeps the spirits soaring… here at Bengaluru”, the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Earth Sciences posted on X.

Earlier, SpaDeX project director N Surendran said that this experiment would prove fruitful for future assignments like the Bharatiya Antariksha Station and the Chandrayaan-4 mission since the docking mechanism was becoming necessary.

“It is one of the experiments that we are going to prove in orbit, which is going to be useful for future assignments or projects assigned to us like our Bharatiya Antariksha Station (Indian Space Station) and the Chandrayaan-4 mission. In the two complex and challenging projects, this docking mechanism is becoming an inevitable requirement”, Surendran said.

The primary objective of the SpaDeX mission is to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft (SDX01, which is the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target, nominally) in a low-Earth circular orbit.

The objectives also include demonstration of the transfer of electric power between the docked spacecraft, which is essential for future applications such as in-space robotics, composite spacecraft control, and payload operations after undocking.

ISRO had on December 30 launched PSLV-C60 with SpaDeX and innovative payloads. (ANI)