BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully arrested the drift between two satellites involved in its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), which had forced the agency to postpone the experiment for the second time. The satellites are now on a slow drift course to move closer.
“The drift has been arrested, and the spacecraft have been put on a slow drift course to approach each other. By tomorrow (January 10), they are expected to reach the initialization conditions,” ISRO announced on Thursday. However, the agency has yet to confirm whether the docking attempt will take place on Friday or at a later date.
Minister Reviews ISRO’s Upcoming Missions
Union Minister of State for Space, Jitendra Singh, met with ISRO officials, including Chairman S. Somanath and Chairman-designate V. Narayanan, to review progress and discuss the agency’s ambitious plans for early 2025.
ISRO has outlined an intensive launch schedule for the first half of the year, featuring key missions:
- GSLV-F15 Mission (Late January): This mission will launch the NVS-02 navigation satellite, which will bolster India’s NavIC constellation. Equipped with indigenously developed atomic clocks and enhanced L1 band signal capabilities, the satellite’s launch vehicle integration is in its final stages at Sriharikota.
- ISRO-NASA Collaboration (NISAR Mission): Scheduled aboard GSLV-F16, the NISAR satellite will provide advanced microwave remote sensing data every 12 days, with applications in agriculture, disaster management, and environmental monitoring.
- LVM3-M5 Mission (March 2025): This commercial mission will launch BlueBird Block-2 satellites for U.S.-based AST SpaceMobile Inc. under an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).
Additionally, the uncrewed test of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight program marks a significant milestone on ISRO’s calendar for 2025, as the agency continues to push the boundaries of space exploration and technology.
