ISRO SpaDeX Launch: What Is Space Docking?
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will bring 2024 to a close with a mission that is a critical step towards achieving several future goals — bringing back a lunar sample, setting up a space station, and sending a human to the Moon. ISRO will demonstrate for the first time its ability to bring together and join two satellites in space.
The SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) mission will launch at 10 pm, as ISRO's workhorse PSLV rocket lifts off from the first launch pad of the Sriharikota spaceport. The fourth stage of the launch vehicle will be used later as a platform to carry out 24 experiments, including several by startups. What is space docking, why is the demonstration of this capability by ISRO a big deal and why is it so critical for India?
