ISRO postpones SpaDex docking mission again

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organization on Wednesday announced the postponement of the planned docking of the twin SPADEX satellites scheduled on January 9th. The distance between two satellites, meant to be closer, started going wide disrupting the plans. The test was to be held tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 8:30 am.

This is the second such postponement of the test after ISRO delayed the planned docking mission on Tuesday after demanding a software test and on-ground simulation experiment before the launch. This docking mission will be the last to come under the tutelage of outgoing Chairman S Somanath.

While making a maneuver 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.

Stay tuned for updates.#ISRO #SPADEX

— ISRO (@isro) January 8, 2025

The test of docking technology that combines two satellites in space is called SpaDeX mission. SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) satellites, weighing 220 kg each will be launched into an orbit 470 km above Earth. There will be a distance of 20 km between the two satellites. During rotation, the distance between them will be reduced to 5 km, 1.5 km, 500 m, 15 m and 3 m. The next step will be docking. The mission duration is 66 days. The satellites will remain in space for two years.

24 research instruments will be launched along with the mission. Fourteen of them belong to various labs of ISRO and ten belong to private universities. The two satellites were built and tested by Anand Technologies, Thiruvananthapuram. After delivering the satellites, the fourth part of the rocket that remains in space will be seeded and tested. The recycling of rocket parts is called POEM 4 (PSLV Orbital Experiment Module).