India’s Space Breakthrough. How Bharat Became the Fourth Country to Dock Satellites in Orbit

On the evening of January 15, two ISRO unmanned vehicles docked in orbit. India became only the fourth country to perform this crucial orbital maneuver. This is of great significance for the development of its space program.

Docking in orbit. Source: phys.org

India’s important achievement

India continues to prove that it is one of the most powerful space powers of our time. Two satellites of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as part of the Space Docking Experiment, or SpaDex, successfully rendezvoused in Earth orbit yesterday ( January 15), making India only the fourth country to dock in space. The other three countries are serious players in the space game: the United States, Russia, and China.

“Spacecraft docking successfully completed! A historic moment,” ISRO said in a statement released last night. “Congratulations to the entire team! Congratulations to India!” 

Docking technology in space

The SpaDeX mission was launched by India’s PSLV rocket on December 30. Its main task was to prove that the docking system developed by ISRO engineers really worked and could be used in other missions.

SpaDeX includes two satellites known as Target and Chaser, each weighing 220 kilograms. The duo was originally expected to bond on January 6, but ISRO postponed the attempt several times for further testing and modeling. 

First, Target and Chaser successfully converged to within 15 meters of each other. Next, they began maneuvers that allowed them to get close to 3m and finally performed docking. ISRO announced all this in a note on its official account on the X network.

Why this mission is important

The success of the mission is important due to the fact that the ability to dock spacecraft is critical for a space agency that is striving to do more than ISRO is currently able to do. India has big plans. It plans to launch a crewed spacecraft into space as early as in the next few years.

Next, the Chandrayaan 4 spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the Moon in 2028. It is expected to bring lunar rock samples back to Earth, which means it will very likely have a landing and orbital modules that will have to be docked. 

But this is not the end. According to Indian plans, the Bharatiya Antariksh space station is to be put into orbit by 2035. That is, India will have at least the same space capabilities that China has now. But in order for crews to work on the station, the docking process needs to be refined to the level of a regular operation.

How complex are docking technologies in space

While the United States, Russia, China, and now India are the only countries that dock spacecraft in orbit, the list of players that have demonstrated docking and/or rendezvous technologies extends beyond these boundaries. 

For example, Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA) have built cargo spacecraft to service the International Space Station. ESA’s ATV ЕКА cargo spacecraft docked to the orbital laboratory on their own, but the Japanese HTV spacecraft needed a little help: they were captured by the station’s large robotic arm.

According to www.space.com

Advertising