Sriharikota: In a significant milestone, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday launched PSLV-C60 with SpaDeX and innovative payloads from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. ISRO's year-end mission is historic as it seeks the rare feat of docking or merging or joining together two satellites in space. The project has been named "Space Docking Experiment" (SpaDeX).
The first stage performance is normal.
SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for the demonstration of in-space docking using two small spacecraft launched by PSLV. The primary objective of the SpaDeX mission is to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft (SDX01, which is the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target, nominally) in a low-Earth circular orbit.
The technological challenge has been mastered only by a few countries and the indigenous technology used for this mission is called the "Bharatiya Docking System".
"The success of this mission is vital for India's future space ambitions," Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh had said earlier. Docking technology is key for long-term missions like "Chandrayaan-4" and the planned Indian space station. It is also crucial for the eventual manned "Gaganyaan" mission.
