Maroc - POPDIARIES.COM - A La Une - 16/Jan 12:48

ISRO Creates History: Successfully Docks SpaDeX Satellites In Space

ISRO Creates History: Successfully Docks SpaDeX  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday achieved the grounding of the SpaDeX satellites. "India docked its name in space history! Good Morning India ISRO’s SpaDeX mission accomplishes historic docking success. Proud to witness this moment!", ISRO said in a post on 'X'. The historic moment was achieved only days after the space agency moved the two spacecrafts within three metres on January 12 and then backed away from them in a trial run to try to dock the satellites. The Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) was launched on December 30, 2024. In a post on X, ISRO described the docking maneuver of the SpaDeX satellites indicating that it starts once a maneuver from 15m to 3m hold point is accomplished. Then docking is initiated with precision, leading to a successful spacecraft capture. "Retraction completed smoothly, followed by rigidisation for stability. Docking successfully completed," it said. Notably, India became the fourth country to achieve this successful space docking after the United States, Russia, and China. Post docking, the space agency said, the control of two satellites as a single object was also successful. "Undocking and power transfer checks to follow in coming days," it said in an update on the mission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated ISRO and the entire space fraternity for the mission's success. "It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come," he said in a post on X. 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. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2025 Earlier in the day, the PSLV C60 rocket with the two satellites SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), and 24 other payloads had been launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota. About 13.45 minutes after the liftoff, the small spacecraft that was about 220 kg each according to a PTI report, entered a 475km circular orbit. The Indian national space agency defines that SpaDeX is a cost optimize demonstrator mission for in-space docking with two small spacecrafts that have been launched by PSLV. Docking technology is main in space when several rockets launches are intended to achieve the same mission objectives.