India Becomes Fourth Nation to Achieve Space Docking, Confirms ISRO

In a significant achievement for India’s space program, ISRO successfully completed its first satellite docking manoeuvre on Thursday morning (January 16), marking a major milestone for upcoming missions, including Chandrayaan-4 and the country’s future space station. Sources have confirmed the success of the docking attempt, though no official statement had been issued at the time of this report.

With this, India has taken the first step towards joining an elite club of nations — the US, Russia and China — that boast of such technology. Isro will need several more docking tests before claiming mastery over the technology.

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ISRO’s Historic Space Docking Experiment: A Milestone in Satellite Technology

ISRO’s Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), launched on December 30, successfully united two separately launched satellites at an orbital altitude of about 475 km. The final commands were executed from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. The operation, involving five to six stages, was monitored from the ground, with each phase given a go-ahead before proceeding.

The docking used a petal-based system aligned with international standards. ISRO took a cautious approach, incorporating ground simulations to validate the process. Due to an abort scenario on January 6, the docking attempt was postponed from January 7 to January 9. Further delays occurred when unexpected drift was observed between the satellites, causing another delay.

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India Joins Elite League with Successful Space Docking Achievement

By January 11, the satellites reached a 230-meter distance after starting from 1.5 km. Despite setbacks, ISRO continued the mission by gradually bringing the satellites closer. On January 9, the spacecraft were put on a slow drift course after the previous delay.

On January 12, a trial brought the satellites to a 15-meter distance, later reducing it to 3 meters before moving them to a safe position. This achievement places India among the few nations to have successfully completed space docking, a highly complex procedure.