- ISRO SpaDeX satellite docking was successfully achieved for the second time, marking a significant step forward in India’s space exploration journey. The autonomous docking of the SpaDeX module demonstrates ISRO’s growing capabilities in orbital servicing and complex space maneuvers.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on Monday that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had successfully completed the second satellite docking as part of its Spadex missions. In the next two weeks, he stated, more experiments will be conducted.
“Glad to inform that the second SpaDeX satellite docking has been accomplished successfully,” Singh, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, and Space, said in a post on ‘X’.
He recalled that on December 30, 2024, the PSLV-C60/Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission was launched.
“Thereafter, ISRO SpaDeX satellites were successfully docked for the first time on January 16 and successfully undocked on March 13, the minister said.”
“Further experiments on ISRO SpaDeX satellite docking are planned in the next two weeks,” Singh added.
Later, a statement claimed that on April 20 at 08.20 p.m., the second successful docking experiment of the SPADEX satellites (SDX-01 and SDX-02) was completed.
“Power transfer from the SDX-02 satellite to the SDX-01 satellite and vice versa was then practiced and completed on April 21. According to the statement, the experiment entailed using electricity from the other satellite to run a heater element in one of the satellites.
According to the space agency, the satellites performed as predicted and the power transfer took about four minutes.
“On the second try, docking was accomplished completely autonomously from a 15-meter intersatellite distance. An extra hold point was manually exercised at a 3-meter intersatellite distance during the initial docking attempt, according to the statement.
“According to the statement, the second ISRO SpaDeX satellite docking demonstration was extremely confident because it was prepared by thorough ground simulations and on-orbit testing that integrated the knowledge gathered from the initial docking and undocking tests.”
“The demonstration of the fully autonomous second docking along with power transfer marks the completion of an important milestone in the SPADEX mission,” the Pentagon stated.
ISRO claims that the SpaDeX project, which uses two tiny spacecraft launched by PSLV, is an affordable technology demonstrator mission for in-space docking.
When several rocket launches are necessary to accomplish shared mission goals in space, docking is crucial.
Future ISRO missions like the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and the landing of a human on the moon depend on this experiment.
