India joins elite club as Isro pulls off historic space docking feat

(Image: ANI)

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) achieved a significant milestone on Thursday by successfully docking satellites as part of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX).

"Spacecraft docking successfully completed! A historic moment. Let’s walk through the SpaDeX docking process: Manoeuvre from 15m to 3m hold point completed. Docking initiated with precision, leading to successful spacecraft capture. Retraction completed smoothly, followed by rigidisation for stability. Docking successfully completed," Isro said in a post on X.

"India became the 4th country to achieve successful Space Docking. Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India," it added.

Isro further added that post docking, control of two satellites as a single object is successful. "Undocking and power transfer checks to follow in coming days," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the scientists of Isro for the successful docking process.

“Congratulations to our scientists at ISRO and the entire space fraternity for the successful demonstration of space docking of satellites. It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come," PM Modi wrote on X.

On January 12, Isro announced that the two satellites involved in the space docking experiment were brought within three meters of each other and then safely separated in a trial run.

“A trial attempt to reach up to 15 metres and further to three metres is done. Moving back spacecraft to a safe distance. The docking process will be done after analysing data further," it said.

Isro had successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission on December 30, 2024.

The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), along with 24 payloads, had lifted off from the first launchpad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and about 15 minutes after liftoff, the two small spacecraft weighing about 220 kg each were launched into a 475-km circular orbit as intended.

According to Isro, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for the demonstration of in-space docking using two small spacecraft that was launched by PSLV.

In space, docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives.