ISRO is in the final stages of preparations to launch the SPADEX mission this month. In an update on December 21, the agency said that the SPADEX or Space Docking Experiment spacecraft have been integrated to the PSLV rocket and moved to the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The rocket will be carrying a total of 24 payloads to space, 14 of which belong to ISRO/Department of Space and 10 from private entities.
What is the SpaDeX mission?
The mission comprises of two satellites that will demonstrate in-orbit docking. "In-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives," ISRO said in a statement.
The docking mission will lay the foundation for future lunar missions and the assembly of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) which ISRO wants to complete by 2035.
ISRO has developed two satellites named Chaser and Target that will be mated in space during SpaDeX mission. Their objective will be demonstration of transfer of electric power between docked spacecraft, composite spacecraft control and payload operations after undocking. The Chaser and Target will be deployed in a 470 km circular orbit and ISRO will steer them in space to achieve the mission objectives.
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Once the two satellites are separated, they will start operation of their respective payloads for an expected mission span of up to two years.
The 24 payloads have been developed by institutions such as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Space Physics Laboratory and the IIST, Valiamala among others. The private players in this mission are Amity University, Bellatrix Aerospace, Bengaluru's RV College of Engineering and TakeMe2Space along with a few others.
Some of these payloads include a robotic arm, debris capturing robotic manipulator, research module to observe seed germination and plant growth in space and green propulsion systems.
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(Image: ISRO)