ISRO Completes Successful Spadex De-Docking, Ready For Chandrayaan 4 And Gaganyaan Missions

ISRO’s SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) satellites, launched on December 30, 2024, have successfully completed de-docking in space, marking a major milestone in India’s space journey.

ISRO announced this achievement on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle and also mentioned the sequence of operations involved.

ISRO’s post read, “Spadex Undocking Successful!. Key sequence of events: SDX-2 extension successful, Capture Lever 3 released as planned, Capture Lever in SDX-2 disengaged, Decapture command issued in SDX-1 & SDX-2. FINALLY, SUCCESSFUL UNDOCKING! Congratulations, Team ISRO!”

Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh also lauded ISRO’s achievement. In a post on X, Singh congratulated the ISRO team, saying that the successful de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites was a major milestone for future missions.

“Congrats team #ISRO. And heartening for every Indian. #SPADEX Satellites accomplished the unbelievable De-Docking. This paves the way for smooth conduct of ambitious future missions including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station, Chandrayaan 4 & Gaganyaan. PM Sh @narendramodi’s continuous patronage keeps the spirits soaring,” Singh wrote in his post.

Launched on December 30, 2024, SpaDeX marks a huge achievement in India’s space journey, showing advanced docking and undocking technology essential for future missions. 

Earlier this year, in January, ISRO successfully performed the docking of two satellites under the SpaDeX mission, making India only the fourth country — after the US, Russia and China — to accomplish this feat.

ISRO Chairman V Narayanan had said that the SpaDeX mission is a fore-runner for several future projects such as the Chandrayaan-4, building of the Bharat Antariksha Station which will involve use of docking technologies.

"We want to do multiple experiments. There is a lot of propellant onboard. We also have experiments lined up for the third slot that would be available after two months," Narayanan said.

SpaDeX, carried into orbit aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket, is designed to test and validate critical space docking technology. The mission involves two small spacecraft — SDX-01 (the Chaser) and SDX-02 (the Target) — that dock in low-earth orbit. This experiment lays the foundation for advanced space operations such as satellite servicing, assembling space stations and deep-space exploration.

Major advancements shown by SpaDeX include autonomous docking and undocking mechanisms, power transfer between spacecraft and precision manoeuvring using an advanced GNSS-based Satellite Positioning System (SPS). The mission will also assess payload functionality after undocking, ensuring that future space missions can efficiently manage in-orbit operations.