Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough, the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully executed the second docking of the two satellites which are part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission.
Announcing this, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said on X, “Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully.” He also recalled the progress of the mission, stating, “as informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SpaDEX mission was successfully launched on December 30, 2024. The first docking was successfully completed on January 16, 2025, at 6:20 AM, and the satellites were undocked on March 13, 2025, at 9:20 AM.” Singh further mentioned that more experiments are planned over the next two weeks.
The successful docking of the SpaDEX satellites in January made India the fourth country in the world to achieve satellite docking in space, joining the ranks of the US, Russia, and China. The mission involved the docking of two small spacecraft — SDX01 (the Chaser) and SDX02 (the Target) — each weighing around 220 kg. These satellites were launched aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket from Sriharikota on December 30, 2024.
The docking technology, indigenously developed by ISRO, is known as the Bharatiya Docking System. It includes a docking mechanism, a suite of four rendezvous and docking sensors, power transfer capability, an inter-satellite communication link (ISL), and a unique autonomous docking strategy with built-in intelligence that allows each spacecraft to understand the state of the other.
