India on Monday (30 December 2024) launched its first space docking mission, powered by an Indian-built rocket, to become the fourth country to achieve the advanced technological feat. The mission is seen as crucial for future space endeavours, including satellite servicing and operations of the country’s planned space station.
The mission, called Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), launched at 1630 GMT on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) “workhorse” PSLV rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andhra Pradesh state. After about 15 minutes, the mission director declared the launch successful after the spacecraft crossed a distance of about 470 kilometers (292 miles).
Docking technology in space is crucial when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve shared mission objectives.
The need for a mission
The Indian space docking mission involves deploying two small spacecraft, each weighing about 220 kg, into a circular orbit of 470 km. It will also demonstrate the transfer of electrical power between docked spacecraft, which has significant potential for applications such as overall spacecraft control in space, robotics, and payload operations after undocking.
Each satellite carries advanced payloads, including an imaging system and a radiation-monitoring instrument designed to measure electron and proton radiation levels in space, providing critical data for future human spaceflight missions.
ISRO chairman S. Somanath said the actual test of the docking technique could take place in about a week and hinted at a date around January 7.
“The rocket has placed the satellites in the correct orbit,” he said.
A successful demonstration would see India join the United States, Russia and China as the only countries to have developed and tested this capability.
“Demonstrating this technology is not only about joining the rare group of countries that have it, but it also opens up the market for ISRO to become a launch partner for various global missions that require docking facilities or assembly in space,” said Somak Raychaudhury, an astrophysicist at the university’s Ashoka University.
In a first for India, the rocket and satellites were integrated and tested by a private company called Anant Technologies instead of a government body. The last stage of the rocket has been repurposed to become an orbital laboratory and will be used for various experiments. The fourth stage of the PSLV, which usually turns into space debris, has been converted into an active non-crewed space laboratory.
Pawan Goenka, chairman of India’s space regulatory body, said, “The PSLV Orbital Experiment Module (POEM) deployed by ISRO is a practical solution that allows Indian start-ups, academic institutions and research organisations to test their space technologies without the need to launch entire satellites. By making this platform accessible, we are lowering entry barriers and enabling a wide range of entities to contribute to the space sector.”