ISRO achieves second successful satellite docking under SPADEX mission, Minister Jitendra Singh informs

Union Minister Jitendra Singh confirmed the development and extended his congratulations to the ISRO team. In a post on X, he said, "Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully."

This event marked yet another significant milestone in India's space research program.

The PSLV-C60/SPADEX mission was launched on December 30, 2024. Following the launch, the first successful docking occurred on January 16, 2025, at 6:20 a.m. The satellites were later undocked on March 13 at 9:20 a.m..

ISRO has also announced that further experimental procedures are scheduled to take place over the next two weeks. He further wrote," As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SPADEX mission was successfully launched on 30 December 2024. Thereafter, the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on 16 January 2025 at 06:20 AM and successfully undocked on 13 March 2025 at 09:20 AM. Further experiments are planned in the next two weeks."

On March 13, ISRO announced the successful completion of its SpaDeX mission's space de-docking. The undocking process involved a precise sequence of events, culminating in the separation of the SDX-01 (Chaser) and SDX-02 (Target) satellites, which were launched on December 30, 2024, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C60 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

It included the successful extension of SDX-2, the planned release of Capture Lever 3, and the disengagement of the Capture Lever in SDX-2. After these manoeuvres, the decapture command was issued in both SDX-1 and SDX-2, leading to the successful separation of the satellites.

ISRO successfully completed the docking of the two SPADEX satellites (SDX-01 and SDX-02) in the early hours of January 16 this year, marking India's entry towards becoming the fourth country, alongside China, Russia, and the United States, in the world to have space docking technology.

According to the space organisation, the groundbreaking mission aims to showcase India's technological prowess in spacecraft rendezvous, docking, and undocking--a critical capability for future advancements, such as satellite servicing, space station operations, and interplanetary exploration.

It is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission designed to demonstrate in-space docking using two small spacecraft launched by the PSLV.

This technology is essential for India's space ambitions, including sending an Indian to the Moon, returning samples from the Moon, and building and operating the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS). In-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives.

The SpaDeX spacecraft was designed and realised by the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with the support of other ISRO centres (VSSC, LPSC, SAC, IISU, and LEOS).