ISRO postpones docking of SpaDeX satellites again

'While making a manoeuvre to reach 225 m between satellites, the drift was found to be more than expected, post non-visibility period. The planned docking for tomorrow is postponed. Satellites are safe,' the ISRO stated.

Chennai: For the second time in two days, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday night postponed the docking of the two Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites scheduled for Thursday morning due to a more than expected drift while making a manoeuvre.

In an update at 9.01 pm on Wednesday, the ISRO said that though the docking won’t happen on Thursday, the satellites were safe.

“While making a manoeuvre to reach 225 m between satellites, the drift was found to be more than expected, post non-visibility period. The planned docking for tomorrow is postponed. Satellites are safe,” the ISRO added.

The mission was progressing as planned as the ISRO in an update at 8 pm said the drift on the SpacecraftA was initiated to move closer from 500m to 225m. However, the docking was postponed within an hour even as scientists said that the satellites were safe and that they were working to dock them.

The ISRO, which has time till January 10 to dock the satellites, had on December 30 said the docking would take place on January 7 but later postponed it to January 9.

If the mission is successful, India will be the fourth member to join the elite club of nations possessing space docking technology after the US, China, and Russia.

SpaDeX is aimed at developing and demonstrating crucial technology required to dock and undock spacecrafts in space and is crucial for India’s lunar missions like India’s manned mission to the moon, Gaganyaan, sample return from the Moon, and the building and operation of the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS).

After successful docking and rigidisation, electrical power transfer between the two satellites will be demonstrated before their undocking and separation to start the operation of their respective payloads for the expected mission life of up to two years, scientists said, adding that in-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives.

The mission will also demonstrate several indigenous technologies, including a sophisticated docking mechanism, rendezvous and docking sensors, power transfer technology, autonomous rendezvous and docking strategy, and inter-satellite communication link (ISL) for autonomous communication between spacecraft.