India to launch first in-space docking mission

The probe will mark a critical step toward New Delhi’s’ long-term vision of establishing its own space station

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the country’s first Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) on Monday in an effort to demonstrate the docking of two satellites in orbit. The mission is a critical step toward India’s long-term vision of establishing its own space station.

Dubbed the Bharatiya Docking System, the mission is set for launch into low Earth orbit on board ISRO’s trusted workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Lift-off is planned for Monday evening from Sriharikota, located off the Odisha coast, according to an official statement. 

The primary objective of the SpaDeX mission is to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for the rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft in a low-Earth circular orbit, the Indian space agency said.

ISRO described the SpaDeX as a “cost-effective technology demonstrator mission” that is essential for India’s space ambitions, such as sending a first Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040, returning a sample from the Moon, and the building and operation of the country’s own space station.

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If executed successfully, India will join the group of only three space powers – Russia, US and China – that have mastered in-orbit satellite docking.

The mission will also use the PS4-Orbital Experiment Module (POEM, India’s unique initiative that repurposes the used fourth stage of the PSLV. Instead of becoming space debris after deploying the mission’s primary payloads, this stage is used as a platform for conducting in-orbit microgravity experiments.  A total of 24 payloads will be flown using POEM, of which 14 payloads are from ISRO centres and 10 payloads are from various academia and start-ups, the space agency said.

In 2024, ISRO has achieved a number of milestones. It conducted dozens of satellite launches, including a test launch of the PSLV-C58 X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) to study astronomical sources, such as black holes and neutron stars, which was only the second X-ray polarimetry mission in the world, after Nasa’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). 

India’s maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 reached the designated destination127 days after it was launched on September 2, 2023 – after travelling a distance of 1.5-million kilometers.

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This year, India also advanced its human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. ISRO has begun assembling the Human Rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (HLVM3) for Gaganyaan’s first uncrewed flight, set for early next year. Planned for launch by late 2026, India aims to send a three-member crew to a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, returning them safely to Earth.