After the successful launch of SpadeX mission, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said this

Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said that India has become the fourth nation to accomplish space docking with its own domestically built “Bharatiya Docking System,” after the successful launch of the SpaDeX mission.

In response to X, Singh said, “India has become the fourth country to join the select league of nations to achieve space docking, through its own indigenously developed ‘Bharatiya Docking System.'”

“Privileged to be associated with the Department of Space at a time when Team #ISRO mesmerizes the world with global wonders, one after the other.” Singh also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for laying the road to “Viksit Bharat,” saying, “A humble tribute to PM @narendramodi’s mantra of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ heading towards ‘Viksit Bharat,’ which will pave the way for a journey beyond the skies for ‘Gaganyaan’ and ‘Bharatiya Antriksha Station.'”

Privileged to be associated with the Department of Space at a time when Team #ISRO mesmerises the world with global wonders, one after the other.
India becomes the fourth to join the select league of nations to seek Space docking, through its own indigenously developed “Bharatiya… pic.twitter.com/N9o7qID8z4

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) December 30, 2024

According to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is getting ready for the January 2025 launch of the NVS-02 satellite on board the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Regarding the impending mission, Somanath went on to say that there are other missions scheduled for the following year.

“We have a lot of missions in 2025. First up, we have the GSLV mission to launch the NVS-02 in January,” Somanath said.

Earlier, on May 29, 2023, the 2,232-kg NVS-01 satellite was successfully launched into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by the GSLV-F12 rocket. The NVS-01 satellite was built to expand NavIC’s capabilities, including L1 band communications for wider service coverage, and it included an in-house atomic clock, according to an ISRO statement. This development is probably going to continue with the NVS-02 mission, which will add more sophisticated functions to the NavIC system.

Following the successful launch of PSLV-C60, which carried the SpaDeX and other payloads, Somanath made the announcement. After the launch, Somanath emphasized how crucial docking is to the Chandrayaan-4 mission, stating that the last docking is anticipated to take place on or around January 7, 2025.

The five components that make up Chandrayaan-4 will be launched at various periods and combined into two distinct modules. After entering orbit, these modules must dock in both Earth’s and the Moon’s orbits. It is crucial for Chandrayaan-4 to dock. “The goal of this mission is to travel to the Moon, land there, come back to Earth, and successfully finish the journey,” Somanath said.

“This is one of the proving grounds for Chandrayaan-4,” he said. Although there will be a lot of procedures involved, the final docking is expected to occur by January 7. Docking will start tomorrow.

“For us, this is the 99th launch of any launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,” Somanath said in celebration of ISRO’s 99th mission. It is a very important milestone. At the beginning of next year, we’re getting ready for the 100th launch. PSLV-C60 successfully launched two SpaDeX satellites, each weighing 220 kg, into a 475-kilometer circular orbit during its 99th flight.

He said that beginning tomorrow, SpaDeX will go through a number of procedures to get it ready for docking, with the last docking anticipated to take place on January 7, 2025. “This is not the first SpaDeX; there will be more varieties, including demonstrations of bigger and more complex versions of docking systems in the coming days,” he said.

The historic goal of ISRO’s year-end project, the SpaDeX mission, is to accomplish the uncommon task of docking or combining two spacecraft in orbit. Using two tiny spacecraft launched by PSLV, the project is an economical technological demonstration mission for in-space docking.

The development and demonstration of the technology needed to rendezvous, dock, and undock two tiny spacecraft (SDX01, the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target) in low-Earth circular orbit is the main goal of the SpaDeX mission. For long-term projects like Chandrayaan-4, the future manned Gaganyaan mission, and the Indian space station, docking technology is essential.