Engineering Innovation in India
India launches space docking experiment with PSLV rocket, advancing major ambitions
ISRO successfully launched spacecraft recently designed to test docking technologies crucial to the country’s major space ambitions. A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off on Dec. 30, 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, with the rocket climbing into the night sky. The PSLV-C60 rocket carried the primary payload in the form of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) as well as 24 different experiments aboard the POEM-4 secondary payload module. Of the latter, 14 are Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and institutional payloads and 10 further payloads from non-government entities. These include a walking robotic arm, a debris capture robotic manipulator, a compact plant research module and a range of sensors. SpaDeX is a mission by ISRO aimed at demonstrating on-orbit docking technology using two small spacecraft. This capability is crucial for India’s future space endeavours including lunar sample return missions and the development of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS). SpaDeX includes two 220-kilogram spacecraft: SDX01, the chaser spacecraft, and SDX02, the target. The pair were placed into their intended 475-kilometer circular orbits with a 55-degree inclination. The mission includes an indigenous, low-impact docking system with an approach velocity of about 10 millimeters per second, as well as a Laser Range Finder (LRF), Corner Cube Retro Reflectors, and other advanced sensors to facilitate precise docking manoeuvres. A GNSS-based Relative Orbit Determination and Propagation (RODP) processor will be used for accurate relative positioning. “After successful docking and rigidization, electrical power transfer between the two satellites will be demonstrated before undocking and separation of the two satellites to start the operation of their respective payloads for the expected mission life of up to two years,” ISRO stated in a mission briefing. The mission is part of India’s efforts to become the fourth country to develop independent human spaceflight capabilities with its Gaganyaan program, with a first crewed flight. The docking technology will also be needed for India’s Chandrayaan-4 lunar south pole sampling mission, expected to launch around 2027 or 2028. Docking will be required to get samples collected from the surface from an ascent vehicle and into a service module capable of returning to Earth.
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