Spacecrafts put in a slow drift for docking: ISRO on SpaDex mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Thursday that space crafts in the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDex) mission have been put in a slow drift course to move closer to each other.

In a post on X, ISRO said that they are expecting to reach initialisation conditions by January 10.

"The drift has been arrested and spacecrafts put in a slow drift course to move closer to each other. By tomorrow, it is expected to reach initialisation conditions," the ISRO said on X.


On Wednesday, ISRO postponed the SpaDex mission which was scheduled for Thursday, after the satellites drifted more than expected during a manoeuvre.

This was the second time that the docking experiment was postponed. It was originally scheduled for January 7.

On December 30, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a historic feat by launching PSLV-C60 with SpaDeX and innovative payloads.

The 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 the rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft (SDX01, which is the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target, nominally) in a Low-Earth circular orbit.

Union minister of state (independent charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, last week said that the SpaDeX mission was named "Bharatiya Docking Technology" because it is purely an indigenous mission, and India is carrying out the first such experiment related to docking technology.

The Union MoS further stated that SpaDeX's mission very much aligns with prime minister Modi's vision of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat."