An Indian-made rocket has blasted off from a site north of Chennai, carrying two satellites which will test space-docking. Docking is crucial for manned travel to the Moon or supporting a space station.
Announcing “the successful accomplishment” of the launch, Indian Space Research Organisation chief Sreedhara Somanath said the rocket had “placed the satellites in the right orbit”.
“Slow-motion liftoff and onboard views! SpaDeX’s historic mission onboard PSLV-C60 delivers breathtaking visuals, showcasing India’s strides in space exploration”, wrote ISRO on X.
India hopes to become only the fourth country with such technology, after Russia, the United States and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously announced plans to send a person to the Moon by 2040.
ISRO PSLV C60/SpaDEx Mission: Post-Docking Activities
After the demonstration of docking and undocking experiments, the two satellites will continue to orbit the Earth for standalone missions for two years.
The SDX01 satellite is equipped with a High Resolution Camera (HRC) and SDX02 has two payloads — Miniature Multispectral (MMX) payload and Radiation Monitor (RadMon).
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