Associated Press
India will dock two satellites in space in mid-January 2025, marking a milestone in New Delhi’s ambitious space technology expansion, becoming the world’s fourth country to accomplish the mission. It has become.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) operated satellites weighing 220 kilograms each during a precision space docking experiment known as Spadex. It called the operation a historic moment.
The satellites Chaser and Target were launched on a single rocket at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota in December 2024.
“India has docked its name in space history!” ISRO posted on social media. “Post-docking, control of two satellites as a single object was successful.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “an important stepping stone for India’s ambitious space mission in the coming years.”
The mission, previously accomplished by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People’s Republic of China, showcased India’s rising status as a technology and space power.
Enhanced space capabilities also support deterrence, as satellites and other space-based intelligence have the potential to enhance awareness and military effectiveness.
In 2023, Modi said the island would establish an indigenously built space station by 2035 and land Indian astronauts on the moon by 2040.
Actively active in space research since the 1960s, India has launched its own and other countries’ satellites, including placing it in orbit around Mars in 2014.
India will become the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole in 2023, in a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold significant reservoirs of frozen water. I did.
