The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the historic space docking mission with a PSLV-C60 rocket carrying two spacecraft lifting off from the spaceport in Sriharikota on Monday night.
The 44.5 metre tall PSLV rocket would place two spacecraft—Spacecraft A (SDX01) and Spacecraft B (SDX02)—in an orbit that would keep them 5 km apart from each other.
Scientists would then try to bring them closer up to 3 metres which would subsequently lead them for merging together at an altitude of about 470km above Earth. According the space agency, this process is expected to take place about 10-14 days after the lift-off.
The lift-off was originally planned at 9.58 pm on Monday but ISRO authorities later rescheduled to 10 pm. The 25 hour countdown for the mission had commenced at 9 pm on Sunday night.
The mission was launched from the first launch pad at Sriharikota spaceport and carried SpaDeX with two spacecraft as the primary payloads along with 24 secondary payloads.
"PSLV C60 mission accomplished as of SpaDeX spacecraft is considered," said Mission director M Jayakumar.
With this mission, India joined an elite list featuring China, Russia and the US.
Docking technology
"Space Docking Experiment is a pioneering mission to establish India's capability in orbital docking, a key technology for future human spaceflight and satellite servicing missions," the space agency said.
The technology would be essential for taking up India's ambitions in space including sending humans to the Moon, bringing samples from there, and also building and operating the country's own space station- Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
The docking technology would also be utilised when multiple rocket launches are planned to achieve common mission objectives.
Explained: Why is ISRO’s SpaDeX mission crucial for India's ambitious space station programme
Objectives of the mission
The primary objective of the mission, according to ISRO, is to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft in a low-Earth circular orbit.
The secondary objective of the mission includes demonstration of the transfer of electric power between the docked spacecraft, which is essential for future applications such as in-space robotics; composite spacecraft control and payload operations after undocking.
