WEB DESK: India has successfully docked two satellites in space, marking a significant achievement in the country’s aspirations for a space station and a manned Moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced Thursday.
Two single rocket-launched 220-kilogram satellites from India’s Sriharikota spaceport in December were separated by an operative precision maneuver on Thursday, described as a ‘successful spacecraft capture’ by ISRO. Another engineering achievement was heralded as a ‘historic moment.’
India is the fourth country to achieve the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) capability, following Russia, the United States, and China.
The mission objective was the ”development and demonstration of the technology required for the rendezvous and docking and undocking of two small spacecraft,” stated ISRO. This technology is valuable for future missions to other planets and long-term space exploration objectives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Indian scientists for achieving this milestone as “a very important stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come.”
The docking capability, ISRO told, is ‘essential’ for the lunar ambitions of India in keeping with Modi’s announcement in 2022 of sending an Indian manned mission to the Moon by 2040. This achievement follows two attempts which were both delayed because of technical problems.
The past decade has seen India’s space program flourish into a very successful program – accomplishing the most cost-effective results compared to any other spacefaring nation while redefining the supremacy of India’s aspirations. In August 2023 only, India became the fourth nation to land an unmanned craft on the Moon, thus strengthening its claim in the global space race.
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