India has successfully completed the second satellite docking under its SpaDEX mission, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced on Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reached this milestone with the docking of two small spacecraft, SDX01 and SDX02, each weighing approximately 220 kilograms.
Taking to social media platform X, Dr Singh stated, &ldquo;Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He also provided a timeline of key events in the mission&rsquo;s progress, noting, &ldquo;As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SpaDEX mission was successfully launched on December 30, 2024. The first docking was successfully completed on January 16, 2025, at 6.20 am, and the satellites were undocked on March 13, 2025, at 9.20 am.&rdquo;
The two satellites involved in the mission &mdash; SDX01, designated as the Chaser, and SDX02, designated as the Target &mdash; were launched aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The SpaDEX (Space Docking Experiment) mission marks a significant advancement in India&rsquo;s space capabilities, positioning the country alongside the United States, Russia, and China as the fourth nation to achieve satellite docking in orbit.
The technology employed in the mission, termed the Bharatiya Docking System, has been developed indigenously by ISRO. It features a docking mechanism, a suite of four rendezvous and docking sensors, inter-satellite communication link (ISL), power transfer capability, and an autonomous docking strategy.&nbsp;
The autonomous system incorporates built-in intelligence, enabling each spacecraft to assess and understand the status of the other, thereby facilitating precision docking without reliance on ground-based commands.
ISRO has described the SpaDEX mission as a critical milestone in India&rsquo;s journey toward mastering orbital docking &mdash; a foundational technology for future endeavours in human spaceflight, satellite servicing, and the construction of a space station. It is also expected to play a key role in upcoming missions such as Chandrayaan-4 and other deep space operations where Earth-based navigation systems like GNSS may not be available.
Dr Singh added that further experiments are scheduled over the next two weeks, continuing India&rsquo;s momentum in advancing space technology.
(With inputs from IANS)
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India joins elite space club with second SpaDEX docking, using fully indigenous Bharatiya Docking System

India’s SpaDEX Mission Marks Second Docking Success

India joins elite space club with second SpaDEX docking, using fully indigenous Bharatiya Docking System

April 21, 2025 | 11:45 IST