Which of the following Space Missions are successfully conducted by ISRO to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for the…

Question

Which of the following Space Missions are successfully conducted by ISRO to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for the docking and undocking of two small spacecraft in a low-Earth circular orbit?

1. A. Aditya L-1
2. B. Gaganyaan
3. C. NISAR
4. D. SPADEX (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — SPADEX

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is SPADEX.

Key Points

• SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) was launched by ISRO on 30 December 2024 aboard a PSLV-C60 rocket, carrying two small spacecraft — SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) — each weighing about 220 kg.
• Its objective was precisely to develop and demonstrate the technology needed for docking and undocking two small spacecraft in a low-Earth circular orbit.
• ISRO achieved successful docking on 16 January 2025, making India the fourth country after the USA, Russia and China to master autonomous space docking, and later demonstrated undocking as well.

Additional Information

• Why docking technology matters: it is a prerequisite for
  • Chandrayaan-4, which requires sample transfer between modules,
  • the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), India's planned space station targeted for 2035,
  • crewed lunar missions, and in-orbit refuelling and servicing.
• The other missions named in the options:
  • Aditya-L1 — India's first solar observatory, launched September 2023 and placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1, about 1.5 million km from Earth.
  • Gaganyaan — India's first crewed spaceflight programme, intended to carry astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
  • NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) — a joint Earth-observation satellite using dual-frequency L-band and S-band radar to monitor land deformation, ice sheets and ecosystems.
• Other recent ISRO milestones: Chandrayaan-3 achieved the first successful soft landing near the lunar south pole in August 2023, and Mangalyaan (2014) made India the first country to reach Mars orbit on its maiden attempt.