‘Spacecraft in normal health’: ISRO posts latest update on SpaDex mission

ISRO has been forced, twice, to postpone the ambitious docking experiment of the space vehicles involved in the project.

Sharing the latest update on its SpaDeX project, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday said the two spacecraft involved in the mission were in “normal” health.

SpaDeX mission being launched on December 30, 2024 (PTI)

ISRO's social media post read, “Arrested at Inter Satellite Distance (ISD) of 230 m, all sensors are being evaluated. Spacecraft's health is normal.”

On Friday, the Bengaluru-based national space agency had stated that the spacecraft were on a “hold” mode and 1.5 km away from each other.

“Further drift to 500 m is planned to be achieved by tomorrow (Saturday) morning,” the post had noted.

More on the mission

Under the SpaDeX mission, launched on December 30 last year, ISRO will attempt to “dock” (join) the two space vehicles, which have been named “SDX01” (Chaser) and “SDX02” (Target).

The ambitious experiment will pave the way for India's future space missions, such as Chandrayaan-4, Gaganyaan and the proposed Bhartiya Antriksh Station, among others.

Docking, a complex procedure, has only been achieved by the United States, Russia and China.

However, after launching the SpaDeX mission, ISRO was forced to postpone the docking twice. On January 6, the date on which the experiment was originally scheduled, it was deferred to January 9 after ISRO found the docking process would require further validation through ground simulations based on an “abort” scenario identified on the day.

Then, on January 8, the experiment was postponed again after the drift was found to be “more than expected.”

According to the space agency ISRO, SpaDeX is a cost-effective technology demonstrator project for the demonstration of in-space docking using the two small space vehicles.