ISRO achieves docking of SpaDeX satellites for second time: Minister

The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully executed the second docking of the two satellites which are part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

“#ISRO SPADEX Update: Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully,” Singh, the science and technology minister, said in a post on X.

The SpaDeX mission was launched on December 30 last year when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) placed the two satellites—SDX01 and SDX02 — in orbit to demonstrate the docking experiment in space.

“As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60/SPADEX mission was successfully launched on 30 December 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on 16 January 2025 at 06:20 AM and successfully undocked on 13 March 2025 at 09:20 AM. Further experiments are planned in the next two weeks,” Singh said.

#ISRO SPADEX Update:

Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully.

As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SPADEX mission was successfully launched on 30 December 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time…

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) April 21, 2025

India became the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to conduct the space docking experiment.

Mastering SpaDeX is crucial for future missions, such as sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon, bringing back samples from the Moon, and building and operation of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station.

India