India went a step closer to becoming part of an elite group of nations with space-docking technology -the ability to mate two spacecraft - after Isro put a pair of small satellites weighing 220kg each into orbit as part of its SpaDeX mission.
The satellites lifted off on the PSLV-C60 from the first launchpad at the spaceport in Sriharikota. They were placed in a 475-km circular orbit some 15 minutes later. The first of the two satellites was separated 15.1 minutes after lift off, and the other happened at 15.2 minutes.
M Sankaran, director of the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), said the satellites - a “chaser” and a “target” spacecraft - would initially be released with a small relative velocity between them. The satellites, through a series of carefully choreographed manoeuvres, will create a distance between them over the next few days before Isro attempts to dock them.
If Isro manages this successfully, India would have taken the first serious step towards mastering the technology, some thing only the US, Russia and China currently have.
“The rocket has placed the satellites in the right orbit. The satellites moved one behind the other. Their distance will increase to about 20km over the next few days before we close the gap and attempt the docking. We are hoping to complete docking in the coming week. The nominal date for this is Jan 7,” Isro chairman S Somanath said soon after the launch.
The mission is crucial for India’s future space endeavours, including Chandrayaan-4 and the planned Bhartiya Antriksh Station (BAS), as confirmed by Somanath. In addition to the primary docking experiment, the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) carried 24 innovative payloads, including several groundbreaking experiments. India’s first astrobiology payloads are among the highlights, featuring RV College of Engineering’s microbiological experiment studying gut bacteria behaviour in space, and Amity University’s investigation of spinach growth in microgravity.
Isro is also launching its own CROPS (Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies) payload to demonstrate seed germination in space, a robotic arm designed to capture space debris and a sophisticated intersatellite communication system.
