PSLVC60-SpaDeX innovative, cost effective docking demonstration mission: ISRO Chairman

New Delhi: PSLVC60-SpaDex innovative, cost effective docking demonstration mission, said ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath on Monday.

The PSLV-C60 rocket lifted off with the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission from Sriharikota on December 30.

The PSLV lifted off with two small spacecraft — SDX01, the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target — weighing about 220 kg each. The satellites merged or joined for docking in a low-Earth circular orbit.

“Congratulations to the entire team of the PSLV project who put the satellites in the right orbit. Also the SpaDeX team who worked on a very innovative, novel, cost-effective docking demonstration mission using two small satellite bus architectures,” Somanath said post the launch event.

He said that the mission “successfully accomplished all objectives”.

He said that “the docking process will be completed in another week. The nominal time is going to be approximately the seventh of January”.

He noted that the solar panels for the satellites have been deployed successfully.

SpaDEX also carries 24 payloads from academic institutions and startups.

The 24 payloads are from the startups, industries, academic institutions, research laboratories, and also from ISRO centers, said the ISRO chief.

“All the R and D payloads are there waiting for testing in the coming days, in fact, in months.

“Congratulations for successful accomplishment of all the mission objectives,” Somanath said.

With the success of the mission, India is now the fourth country, after the US, Russia, and China, to master the docking technology.

“India becomes the fourth to join the select league of nations to seek Space docking, through its own indigenously developed ‘Bharatiya Docking System’,” said Union Minister Jitendra Singh on X.

The technology will “pave the way for journey beyond the skies for “Gaganyaan” and “Bharatiya Antriksha Station”, Singh said.

SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) is a pioneering mission to establish India’s capability in orbital docking, a key technology for future human spaceflight and satellite servicing missions, ISRO said.

–IANS