Isro Spadex Mission: The docking experiment, which occurred in the wee hours of January 16, 2025, was a very precise dance between two satellites as the chaser aligned with the target.
In a historic achievement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully docked its SpaceX satellites in space, making India the fourth country in the world to possess rendezvous, docking, and undocking capabilities.
This was the docking experiment in the wee hours of January 16, 2025-a delicate dance of two satellites with the chaser aligning to the target satellite in a tango choreographed by engineers from the Indian space agency.
The SpaceX mission involved two satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), which weighed nearly 220 kg each while they made their way through the coldness of space to align for docking.
The maneuver from the 15m to 3m hold point was completed. Docking was initiated with precision to capture the spacecraft. Retraction was completed, followed by rigidisation for stability. According to the update from Isro, the docking was successfully completed.
After a few maneuvers, it reduced the distance from 1.5 kilometers to just 3 meters before finally establishing a successful dock. Isro had earlier set the docking for January 7 and then on January 9, but technical difficulties led to several postponements. The Indian Space Agency then made another attempt on January 11, but it was aborted seconds before the dock.
