Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) released an update stating that it has conducted a trial for the docking process of the SpaDex mission. SpaDex means Space Docking Experiment.
The highly anticipated Space Docking Experiment, also known as ‘SpaDex’, involving two satellites might be happening very soon as the ISRO on Sunday said it conducted a trial attempt to move the spacecrafts from 15 meteres to three apart.
ISRO said, “The spacecraft were tested to reach a distance of 15 meters and then 3 meters. After this, the spacecraft are being taken back to a safe distance.”
In a post on Saturday, ISRO informed that the two satellites – SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) – launched for the mission were closing in for an “exciting handshake” and were just 15 metres apart.
“At 15 metres, we see each other clearer and clearer, we are just 50 feet away for an exciting handshake,” ISRO said in the post on X.
“The docking process will be carried forward after analyzing the data.”
ISRO has also released a picture and a 12-second video, which have been captured by the SpaDex satellite from a distance of 15 meters.
Apart from this, another picture has also been shared, which has been captured from a distance of 105 meters.
ISRO launched the SpaDex mission on December 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at around 10 pm Indian time. Its objective is to develop and demonstrate the technology required to ‘dock’ and ‘undock’ spacecraft.
