India Achieves Space Docking Milestone

 India Achieves Space Docking Milestone

On March 18, 2025, India became the fourth country—after the US, Russia, and China—to successfully demonstrate space docking and undocking capabilities.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) autonomously undocked two satellites, SDX01 (the Chaser) and SDX02 (the Target), in space, showcasing India's proficiency in executing complex orbital maneuvers critical for future space exploration missions.

Space docking involves the process of bringing two spacecraft closer and joining them together while in orbit, enabling the assembly of large spacecraft that cannot be launched in a single mission due to weight constraints.

Space undocking, the reverse process, separates a spacecraft from a space station or another spacecraft. This capability is pivotal for India’s ambitious plans, including the Bhartiya Antriksh Station, scheduled for 2035, and the human mission to the Moon by 2040. The upcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission, which aims to return lunar soil and rock samples, will also rely on this technology.

Historically, the first manual space docking was achieved in 1966 by NASA's Gemini VIII, under the command of Neil Armstrong, with the target vehicle Agena. In 1967, the USSR succeeded in its first autonomous docking with the Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188 spacecraft. China performed its first unmanned docking in 2011, followed by its first crewed docking in 2012.

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