The Indian Space Agency has acquired two 400kg satellites for a critical upcoming mission called SPADEX—Space Docking Experiment. Under this mission, a single rocket will throw two satellites into slightly different orbits.
Eventually, the satellites traveling at an impressive speed of about 28,000 kmph will perfectly position themselves in such a manner to do a ‘space handshake’ and physically attach themselves to form one orbiting entity.
This experiment becomes even more critical because docking is one of the biggest enablers for future missions, including Chandrayaan-4 and Bharatiya Antariksha Space Station-proposed Indian Space Station.
ATL completed the integration of two 400kg satellites for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and handed them over at ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), a facility for designing and developing satellites located in Bengaluru.
For the first time in ISRO history, the Indian private industry is making satellites fully assembled, integrated, and tested in a private facility.
Reforms in the space sector, which open more significant opportunities to the Indian private industry, are bringing about such a shift. The new satellite will carry out specific payloads in several missions across various orbits between 2023 and 2024.
Breaking News! #ISRO receives the 2 x 400kg satellites for the glamorous SPADEX mission, where it’s going to carry out docking – a precise handshake between two satellites in #space. The critical #tech for Chadrayaan-4, Space Stn
