ISRO makes history by successfully launching SpaDeX satellites into space.

On December 30, 2024, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission.

The SpaDeX satellites' docking procedure was successfully finished by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday.

"India made space history by docking its name! Greetings, India A remarkable docking success is achieved by ISRO's SpaDeX mission. "Happy to be here today!" ISRO wrote in a post on 'X'.

The historic event occurred just days after the space agency's trial attempt to dock the satellites on January 12 got the two spacecraft to three meters before repositioning them at a safe distance.

On December 30, 2024, the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission was launched successfully.

In a post on X, ISRO described the SpaDeX satellites' docking procedure, stating that it starts with completing a maneuver from a 15-meter to a 3-meter hold point.

A successful spacecraft capture follows the precise start of docking. "After a smooth retraction, rigidization was applied for stability. "Docking was completed successfully," it stated.

Notably, after China, Russia, and the United States, India became the fourth nation to accomplish this successful space docking.

The space agency reported that two satellites were successfully controlled as a single entity after docking. In a mission update, it stated, "Undocking and power transfer checks to follow in coming days,"

In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended ISRO and the space community as a whole for the mission's accomplishment. "It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come," he said in an article on X.

The PSLV C60 rocket, which was carrying 24 payloads and two tiny satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), had taken out from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

According to a PTI report, the tiny spacecraft, each weighing roughly 220 kg, were sent into a 475 kilometer circular orbit almost 15 minutes after liftoff.

The national space agency claims that the SpaDeX project, which was launched by PSLV, is an affordable demonstrator mission that demonstrates in-space docking using two tiny spacecraft.

When several rocket launches are intended to accomplish shared mission objectives in space, docking technology is crucial.