India has joined an elite group of four nations that have successfully demonstrated the complex technology of satellite docking and undocking, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr V Narayanan said on Friday following the successful completion of the SpaDEx (Space Docking Experiment) mission.
“India is now one of the four countries in the world to have demonstrated both docking and undocking technology,” Narayanan told reporters. Recalling the preparations the organisation did before the mission, Narayanan mentioned that they carried out over 120 computer simulations of the mission to make sure there wouldn’t be any mistakes during the mission.
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“On January 16, we had a major achievement; we successfully docked both the satellites together, and it was rotating as a single body. Then, we wanted to separate it out, the undocking process, for that we carried out a lot of studies and analysis and we made a simulator and carried out 120 simulations, as there should not be any mistakes.
On 13th March, at 9:20 am, in the first attempt itself, we succeeded in the undocking process,” the ISRO chairman said. On January 16, ISRO scientists successfully demonstrated their space docking ability by docking two satellites launched under SpaDex. When asked about India’s future of manned missions, the ISRO chairman underlined that they learn from any small setbacks: “We learn lessons from all small setbacks of us and others. This is a very complex technology, so we learn. Whatever setbacks are there, we are taking care of them, and we are quite confident in the type of effort that is put in. The type of dedication of Indian scientists is something else.”
Narayanan also revealed another major achievement of the space organisation, saying that they have been able to successfully test the C32 cryogenic propulsion system, a system which was earlier denied to India by multiple countries. “A major achievement is that we have developed the C32 cryogenic propulsion system, and all should know that cryogenic technology was denied to India by other countries, and we took baby steps. Today, we have developed three cryogenic stages,” the ISRO chairman told reporters.
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“We have successfully tested it for 100 seconds. This is yet another technology that so many countries do not have. Even 20 years ago, it was a very hard technology, but today, it is for ISRO,” he added. The undocking process involved a precise sequence of events, culminating in the separation of the SDX-01 (Chaser) and SDX-02 (Target) satellites, which were launched on December 30, 2024, using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C60 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The process included the successful extension of SDX-2, the planned release of Capture Lever 3, and the disengagement of the Capture Lever in SDX-2. After these maneuvers, the decapture command was issued in both SDX-1 and SDX-2, leading to the successful separation of the satellites.The SpaDeX spacecraft were designed and realized by the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with the support of other ISRO centers (VSSC, LPSC, SAC, IISU, and LEOS).
