ISRO's mission SpaDeX

Why in the news?

• ISRO launched 2 small spacecraft from Sriharikota using PSLV-C60 rocket.
  • This mission has been named SpaDeX.

What is SpaDeX Mission?

• ISRO has launched two small satellites under SpaDeX mission using 229 tonne PSLV rocket.
  • These satellites will dock and undocked at an altitude of 470 km.

Importance of SpaDeX Mission:

• This mission will fulfil the dreams of India's upcoming missions like Chandrayaan-4, own space station and landing of an Indian traveller on the moon.

India took patent on docking system:

• In the world of space, only Russia, America and China have mastered the technology of docking and undocking.
  • Now India is also preparing to join this group.
• ISRO has now also taken a patent on this docking system.
  • Usually no country shares the difficult details of docking and undocking.
• That is why ISRO had to make its own docking mechanism.

America was the first to dock:

• America was the first to dock in space on March 16, 1966.
• The Soviet Union docked two spacecraft in space for the first time on October 30, 1967.
• China did space docking for the first time on November 2, 2011.