India became the fourth country to successfully achieve docking in space on Thursday, a feat seen as pivotal for future missions as New Delhi cements its place as a global space power.
Before India, countries like the United States, Russia, and China had developed and tested docking capability.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said on social media platform X, “Spacecraft docking is successfully completed! A historic moment.”
The Indian space agency’s mission, the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDex), involved deploying two small spacecraft weighing about 220 kilograms each into low-earth orbit. The two spacecraft, Target and Chaser, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southern Andhra Pradesh state on December 30 aboard an Indian-made PSLV rocket.
Minister for Space Jitendra Singh said on X at its launch, “SpaDex mission marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration, showcasing India’s technological prowess and ambition.”
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