The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched the SpaDeX mission on Monday 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. SpaDeX B was deployed at 911.7 seconds, which is 3 seconds before SpaDeX A at 914.6 seconds.
This deployment strategy is intended to create an initial distance of around 20 km between the satellites. Over time, the spacecraft will gradually reduce its distance and finally perform docking by January 7, 2025.
After the deployment, the PS-4 stage will undergo two restarts to lower its orbit to 354 km to carry out the POEM-4 mission. This mission will involve deploying and testing 24 payloads from startups, industries, institutions, laboratories, and ISRO centers in the upcoming days.
What is 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.