ISRO Is Successful to Drop SpaceDex Satellites in Space.

ISRO Successfully Deploys SpaceDex Satellites into Space

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Pinky Deshmukh

Last Updated: January 16, 2025

Summary: On December 30, 2024, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission.

Two Indian satellites were successfully docked or mated in space Thursday morning by the Indian Space Research Organization, the country's space agency. This is part of SpaDeX, the Space Docking Experiment. Indian scientists were able to attain the target on their fourth attempt.

India achieved success with the Bhartiya Docking System, which was developed domestically. The satellites neared each other at a speed of 10 millimeters per second just before docking.

The PSLV C60 rocket, carrying 24 payloads and two tiny satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

According to a report, the tiny spacecraft, each weighing roughly 220 kg, were sent into a 475-kilometer circular orbit almost 15 minutes after liftoff.

ISRO made this special announcement at 10 a.m., today, "Spacecraft docking 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. India became the 4th country to achieve successful Space Docking. Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India!"

The historic event occurred just days after the space agency's trial attempt to dock the satellites on January 12 got the two spacecraft to three meters before repositioning them at a safe distance.

The space agency reported that two satellites were successfully controlled as a single entity after docking. In a mission update, it stated, "Undocking and power transfer checks to follow in coming days."

In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended ISRO and the space community as a whole for the mission's accomplishment. "It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come," he posted on X.