According to ISRO chairman S. Somanath, the organization is preparing to launch its dependable workhorse polar satellite launch vehicle on a mission to perform a space docking experiment named SPADEX here on Thursday.
Scientists at the space agency based in Bengaluru are preparing the rocket and anticipate launching it later this month, he added.
SPADEX or Space Docking Experiment:
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is developing a twin satellite mission to advance orbital rendezvous, docking, and formation flying capabilities. These technologies might be used for human spaceflight, in-space satellite maintenance, and other proximity operations.
The Space Docking Experiment was authorized by the Indian government in 2017 after basic investigations were completed in 2016 and an initial grant of ₹10 crore was cleared. ISRO requested ideas in June 2019 to investigate technologies relating to docking, rendezvous, and remote robotic arm operation on its PSLV fourth stage (PS4) orbital platform.
As of July 2022, ₹124.47 crore (or ₹132 crore or US$16 million in 2023) had been approved for funding for the Space Docking Experiment.
Somanath, secretary of the Department of Space, thanked officials from NewSpace India Ltd. and the European Space Agency (ESA) for the successful launch of the PSLV-C59/Probas-3 mission earlier in the day. He also mentioned that a mission similar to the PSLV-C59-PROBAS-3 mission was in the works, with the launch of PSLV-C60 scheduled for December.
“It (The PSLV-C60 mission) is going to demonstrate the space docking experiment called SPADEX. The rocket is just ready now and we are getting ready for the final stage of activities leading to the launch, possibly in December itself,” he said.
On the Proba-3 mission, he said, Thursday’s mission is about Heliophysics (the study of Sun, its planets) and there has been a strong ‘science group’ in India who have a working collaboration with the scientists of the European Space Agency.
In a dedicated commercial mission, ISRO’s PSLV on Thursday successfully placed two satellites of ESA into orbit.
-Raja Aditya
