NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) maiden experiment of docking two satellites in space (450 km above Earth) is inching closer to success with the Target and the Chaser satellites coming as close as three metres from each other following which the satellites have been moved back to safe distances (20 km) again.
“A trial attempt to reach up to 15 m and further to 3 m is done. Moving back spacecrafts to safe distance. The docking process will be done after analysing data further,” the ISRO said in a post on X.
The two satellites were originally supposed to dock on January 7. The experiment was deferred to January 9 after ISRO scientists felt that the process required further validation through ground simulations in view of an abort scenario identified by them.
A day ahead of the docking planned on January 9, the space agency initiated the drift on the Chaser spacecraft to move closer from 500 m to 225 m of the Target spacecraft.
But shortly after, ISRO announced another postponement of docking. It said while making a manoeuvre to reach 225 m between satellites, the drift was found to be more than expected, post non-visibility period.
On January 10, ISRO announced that the drift has been arrested and spacecraft put in a slow drift course to move closer to each other. Since then, the docking process has been making a steady progress.
According to ISRO, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator designed to showcase in-space docking capabilities using two small spacecraft.
The technology is crucial for India’s space ambitions, including sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon, returning lunar soil samples and constructing and operating the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS). With the SpaDeX mission, India is progressing towards becoming the fourth country in the world, after the USA, Russia and China, to achieve space docking technology.
On December 30, the PSLV C60 rocket successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, carrying two small satellites SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) along with 24 payloads. About 15 minutes after liftoff, the satellites, each weighing 220 kg, were placed into a circular orbit.
Following this, ISRO has begun preparations for the docking operation, which involves multiple stages. After successful docking, the mission will demonstrate electrical power transfer between the two satellites.