BENGALURU, Jan 16: In a major boost to India’s ambitious future space missions, ISRO on Thursday successfully performed the docking of satellites as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) and announced that post docking, control of two satellites as a single object was also achieved.
“India docked its name in space history! Good Morning India ISRO’s SpaDeX mission accomplishes historic docking success. Proud to witness this moment!” ISRO said in a post on X.
With the successful docking of satellites—Chaser and Target—India has become the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to accomplish the technological feat.
In space, docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. The docking experiment is crucial for the smooth conduct of the country’s ambitious future missions, including Chandrayaan-4, Gaganyaan, setting up a space station and landing an astronaut on the moon.
Last October, the government announced that India will have its own Space Station by 2035, known as the “Bharatiya Antriksh Station”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a post on X greeted the scientists for the achievement. He said: “Congratulations to our scientists at @isro and the entire space fraternity for the successful demonstration of space docking of satellites. It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come.”
Hailing ISRO, Union Minister of State for Science, Technology and Space, Jitendra Singh said on X: “Congrats #ISRO. Finally made it. SPADEX has accomplished the unbelievable. Docking complete. And it is all indigenous ‘Bharatiya Docking System’.”
He said this success paves the way for the smooth conduct of ambitious future missions, including the Bharatiya Antriksh Station, Chandrayaan-4 and Gaganyaan. (IANS)
