New Delhi, Dec 30: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch the SpaDeX mission aimed at achieving a historic space docking feat on Monday, the space agency said. The Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, will lift off aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket, at 10:00:15 PM from Sriharikota on December 30.
The SpaDeX mission aims to dock two satellites in space, a challenge only mastered by the US, Russia, and China, so far. “Launch Day is Here!,” ISRO said in a post on social media platform X. “Tonight at precisely 10:00:15 PM, PSLV-C60 with SpaDeX and innovative payloads are set for liftoff. “SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) is a pioneering mission to establish India's capability in orbital docking, a key technology for future human spaceflight and satellite servicing missions,” ISRO said.
The PSLV will lift off two small spacecraft SDX01, the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target weighing about 220 kg each. The satellites will merge or join for docking in a low-Earth circular orbit.
The indigenous technology used for this mission has been named the ‘Bharatiya Docking System’. It includes a docking mechanism, a suite of four rendezvous and docking sensors, power transfer technology, indigenous novel autonomous rendezvous and docking strategy, and an inter-satellite communication link (ISL) for autonomous communication between spacecraft, incorporated with inbuilt intelligence to know the states of the other spacecraft, among others.
Mastering the space docking technology may not only propel India into the elite club of spacefaring nations. It is also key for India’s impending space missions including the Moon mission, setting up the Indian space station, and lunar missions like Chandrayaan-4 without the support of GNSS from Earth.
According to ISRO, it will also demonstrate “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”.
