SpaDeX along with 24 PS4-Orbital Experiment Module (POEM-4) payloads was launched on a PSLV-C60 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
- The spacecraft was designed and realised by the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with support of other ISRO centres.
- U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru, is lead centre of ISRO for building satellites and developing associated satellite technologies.
SpaDeX Mission Overview
- Orbit Details: 470 km circular orbit at 55° inclination.
- Mission Life: Up to two years post-docking operations.
- Objectives:
- Primary: To develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft (SDX01(Chaser), and SDX02(Target)) in a low-Earth circular orbit.
- Secondary: Transfer of electric power between docked spacecraft and Composite spacecraft control and payload operations post-undocking.
- Indigenous technologies Developed:
- Inter-satellite communication link (ISL) for autonomous communication between spacecraft.
- GNSS Based Novel Relative Orbit Determination and Propagation (RODP) processor: To determine relative position and velocity of other spacecraft.
- Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) refers to any satellite constellation that provides global positioning, navigation, and timing services. E.g. Galileo (EU) GPS (USA) etc.
- Other indigenous technologies developed for enabling this mission: Docking mechanism, Sensor Suite, autonomous rendezvous and docking strategy etc.
Significance of Mission
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