India will launch an ambitious space docking test flight on Monday (Dec. 30) that could set the stage for a future mission to the moon.
The India Space Research Organisation will launch the two small satellites of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) atop an Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on Monday. Liftoff is set for 11:28 a.m. EST (9:58 p.m. IST, 1628 GMT) from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
You can watch the SpaDeX mission launch live online via ISRO’s YouTube livestream, which is expected to begin at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT).
The SpaDeX mission will launch two satellites, a Target and a Chaser, on a mission to test autonomous docking technology in orbit. But ISRO hopes to do more than just test automatic docking gear.
The mission also includes a secondary payload module with 24 different experiments aboard, including a small robotic arm. Scientists hope to test the arm and other payloads after docking in a payload operations demonstration, and also test dual spacecraft control and power transfer between the docked spacecraft.
🌟 PSLV-C60/SPADEX Mission Update 🌟Visualize SpaDeX in Action!🎞️ Animation Alert:Experience the marvel of in-space docking with this animation! 🌐 Click here for more information: https://t.co/jQEnGi3ocF pic.twitter.com/djVUkqXWYSDecember 27, 2024
“This technology is essential for India’s space ambitions such as Indian on Moon, sample return from the Moon, the building and operation of Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), etc.,” ISRO officials wrote in an mission overview, using the official name to India’s planned space station. “In-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives.”
The docking technology will be vital ISRO’s planned Chandrayaan-4 mission to the moon, which aims to return samples to Earth from the lunar south pole. A sample-return vehicle will have to dock in lunar orbit to transfer to sample to a return capsule. The ability to dock autonomously is also required for space station construction and operation as ISRO develops its human spaceflight program.
The SpaDeX docking demonstation is expected to take place in early 2025 while the Target and Chaser spacecraft fly in low Earth orbit 290 miles (470 kilometers) above Earth. The two spacecraft, each weighing 485 pounds (220 kilograms), are expected to test rendezvous operations from as far apart as just over 12 miles (20 km), with the Chaser vehicle approaching closer over time for the final docking.
“After successful docking and rigidization, electrical power transfer between the two satellites will be demonstrated before undocking and separation of the two satellites to start the operation of their respective payloads for the expected mission life of up to two years,” ISRO officials said in the mission overview.
That two-year mission will include a series of tests of the 24 payloads aboard the SpaDex spacecraft. Fourteen of the experiments were developed by ISRO officials, with the remaining 10 being flown for universities and commercial startups.
The ISRO payloads include novel technologies for the space agency, such as a “walking robotic arm” that can move end over end like an inchworm, similar to the CanadArm2 robotic arm on the International Space Station. There is also a “Debris Capture Robotic Manipulator, a robotic arm that will attempt to catch tethered “debris” in a space junk cleanup test. You can see a full list of the different payloads on the ISRO mission site here.
The non-docking payloads are flying on SpaDeX aboard ISRO’s PS4-Orbital Experiment Module, or POEM-4, which “the scientific community to carry out certain in-orbit microgravity experiments for an extended duration of up to three months,” ISRO officials wrote.
ISRO’s SpaDex launch is expected to be the final rocket launch of 2024. It follows on the heels of a three Falcon 9 rocket launches in three days by SpaceX.
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