This is an animation of two spacecraft connecting in space. It has been released by ISRO.
India has become the fourth country to successfully dock two spacecraft in space. Before this, only Russia, America and China have been successful in doing this. ISRO said that the docking experiment was completed on the morning of 16 January.
Missions like Chandrayaan-4, Gaganyaan and the Indian Space Station depended on the success of this mission. Moon soil samples will be brought to Earth in Chandrayaan-4 mission. In the Gaganyaan mission, humans will be sent into space.
ISRO had launched the Space Docking Experiment Mission on December 30 at 10 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. Under this, two spacecraft were deployed 470 km above the earth with the PSLV-C60 rocket.
The two spacecraft were to be connected in this mission on January 7, 2025, but it was postponed. Then on January 9, an attempt was made to dock, but after bringing the spacecraft closer to 3 meters, the docking could not take place due to technical problems.
PSLV-C60 rocket ready on the launchpad before the launch of the SpaceX mission.
Spadex mission was launched on 30 December 2024 at 10 pm from Sriharikota.
ISRO deployed both the spacecraft 470 km above the Earth.
The spacecraft was docked after coming closer to 15 meters and then 3 meters.
After successful docking, ISRO said-
Spacecraft docking completed successfully! A historic moment. Let us know the docking process: The distance between the spacecraft was brought down from 15 meters to 3 meters. The docking was initiated with precision, resulting in successful capture of the spacecraft. Docking completed successfully. India became the fourth country to achieve successful space docking. Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India! After docking, control of the two spacecraft as a single object was successful. Undocking and power transfer checks will be conducted in the coming days.
What was the Spacex mission objective: to show the world the docking and undocking technology
Spacex Mission Process: Know how the two spacecraft came close
On December 30, two small spacecraft, Target and Chaser, were launched into different orbits at an altitude of 470 km by a PSLV-C60 rocket.
After deployment, the speed of both spacecraft reached about 28,800 kilometers per hour. This speed was 10 times more than the speed of the bullet.
There was no direct communication link between the two spacecraft. These were guided from the ground. Both spacecraft were brought close to each other.
Laser range finders were used to determine distances between 5 km and 0.25 km. A docking camera was used for a range of 300 m to 1 m. Whereas visual cameras came into use at distances from 1 meter to 0 meters.
After successful docking, electrical power transfer between the two spacecraft will now be demonstrated in the coming days. Then there will be undocking of the spacecrafts and both of them will start the operation of their respective payloads. This will continue to provide valuable data for about two years.
Why mission is necessary: The success of missions like Chandrayaan-4 depends on this
India took patent on its docking mechanism This docking mechanism has been named 'Indian Docking System'. ISRO has also taken a patent on this docking system. India had to develop its own docking mechanism, as no space agency shares the details of this extremely complex process.
24 payloads were also sent to the mission for experiment. 24 payloads have also been sent in this mission for experiments in microgravity. These payloads were in the fourth stage of the PSLV rocket called POEM (PSLV Orbital Experimental Module). 14 payloads are from ISRO and 10 payloads are from Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs).
America docked for the first time on March 16, 1966
Graphics Source: NavJivanIndia | VaskarAssets
