ISRO SpaDeX mission update
SpaDeX satellites de-dock (March 13, 2025)
Spadex undocking captured from both SDX-1 & SDX-2! 🛰️🛰️🎥
Watch the spectacular views of this successful separation in orbit.
Congratulations to India on this milestone! 🇮🇳✨ #Spadex #ISRO #SpaceTech pic.twitter.com/7u158tgKSG
— ISRO (@isro) March 13, 2025
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully de-docked its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites on Thursday, March 13, 2025, marking a significant milestone in India’s space capabilities. This achievement positions India alongside the United States, Russia, and China in demonstrating autonomous space docking and de-docking technologies.
SpaDex satellites Docking (January 16, 2025)
ISRO successfully completed docking of two SPADEX satellites (SDX-01 & SDX-02) in the early hours of 16 January, 2025.#SPADEX #ISRO pic.twitter.com/UJrWpMLxmh
— ISRO (@isro) January 17, 2025
Following the deployment of SpaDex satellites, SDX01 and SDX02 performed a series of maneuvers to achieve a successful docking on January 16, 2025. After the deployment, the PS-4 stage underwent two restarts to lower its orbit to 354 km to carry out the POEM-4 mission. This mission involved deploying and testing 24 payloads from startups, industries, institutions, laboratories, and ISRO centers in the upcoming days.
SpaDeX mission launch and deployment (December 30, 2025)
Slow-motion liftoff and onboard views! 🚀✨
SpaDeX’s historic mission onboard PSLV-C60 delivers breathtaking visuals, showcasing India’s strides in space exploration. 🌌🛰️
📖 More info: https://t.co/jQEnGi3W2d#SpaDeX #ISRO 🚀
📍 @DrJitendraSingh pic.twitter.com/5eJ6FAiIxI— ISRO (@isro) December 31, 2024
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the SpaDeX mission on Monday, December 30, 2024, at 10 pm IST from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, after a 2-minute reschedule. The mission was launched aboard ISRO’s reliable workhorse, the PSLV-C60 rocket.
All four stages of the PSLV-C60 rocket performed normally. The SpaDeX mission satellites were deployed 15 minutes after launch, with a 3-second interval between the deployments at an altitude of 476.8 km by the PS-4 stage of the PSLV-C60 rocket.
This deployment strategy was intended to create an initial distance of around 20 km between the satellites.
About ISRO’s SpaDeX mission
The SpaDeX mission aims to demonstrate space docking technology with the help of two small satellites launched by the PSLV-C60 rocket on Monday. The mission’s success will be significant for ISRO, as only a few countries have space docking capabilities. The mission will also help future missions, such as ISRO’s Indian man on the moon mission, the Bharatiya Antariksh station (BAS), etc.
The mission will be carried out with the help of two small spacecraft weighing 220 kg each, named SDX01, which is the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target. After deploying the satellites in low Earth orbit by ISRO’s PSLV-C60, the satellites will begin their space docking sequence.
The primary objective of the mission is to test the space docking technology; however, the secondary objectives include the demonstration of the transfer of electric power between the docked spacecraft, composite spacecraft control, and payload operations after undocking.
For more details about the SpaDeX mission, read the article by ISRO.
