ISRO launches SpaDex: All Set To Establish Its Own Space Station.

ISRO Launches SpaDex: A Giant Leap Towards India's Own Space Station

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Pinky Deshmukh

Last Updated: December 31, 2024

Summary: ISRO's SpaDeX Mission today marks India's initial move toward establishing its own space station.

The Space Docking Experiment, also known as SpaDex, involves two satellites undergoing an experimental docking procedure, which is followed by extensive inspections and undocking. This mission is crucial, especially in light of India's goal to build the Bharatiya Antriksh Station, its own space station.

China, Russia, and the United States are the only countries to be able to dock two satellites or spacecraft in orbit. With ISRO's final mission of 2024, SpaDeX, set to launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 2200 hours (10 pm) IST, India is poised to become a member of this exclusive group.

The government of India declared in October this year that by 2035 the country will establish its own Space Station known as Bharatiya Antriksh Station.

Currently, there are two other space stations: The International Space Station, built by Russia (Roscosmos) and the United States (NASA). China is working on the second space station, the Tiangong Space Station. India is set to establish the third.

S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), stated the significance of space docking technology for Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-4.

Additionally, the ISRO chairman confirmed that the recently launched SpaDex mission's final docking is anticipated to happen on or around January 7.

On Monday, the Indian space agency successfully launched PSLV-C60 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, carrying the SpaDeX and additional payloads.

The goal of ISRO's year-end project, the SpaDeX mission, is to accomplish the unique task of docking two spacecraft in space. The project is an economical technology demonstration mission for in-space docking using two small spacecraft launched by PSLV.