ISRO Delays Docking of SpaDEX Satellites

The docking of the two experimental satellites of the Space Docking EXperiment mission (SpaDEX), which was originally planned for January 7th IST, has been delayed and is scheduled to take place on January 9, ISRO announced through a post on X.

According to the latest post by ISRO, the docking will take place on 9 January 2025, with a live stream from 8 AM onwards on ISRO Official, ISRO's YouTube channel. You can also watch it here-

The two satellites, which were launched aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) were seperated with a small relative velocity, and the distance between them was gradually increased. They are expected to reduce the distance between them, dock with each other and demonstrate electrical power transfer.

The two SpaDEX satellites during testing.
Credit: ISRO

This technology is being tested to be used in future human spaceflight missions to the Moon and the Bhartiya Antriksh Station (BAS). With its success, India will join an elite group of nations including US, China and Russia that have space docking capabilities.

During the SpaDeX mission, a Chaser satellite will approach and dock with a Target satellite while both fly about 470 km above Earth. Each SpaDeX satellite weighs about 220 kg.

Along with the SpaDEX satellites, ISRO had also launched a group of experiments by various institutions across India. These included a small robotic arm, another robotic arm to capture space debris and a germination experiment in space.

Clear skies,
Aarav Iyer