Tue Dec 31 00:45:43 UTC 2024: ## India Joins Elite Space Club with Successful Docking Experiment
**Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh:** The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, marking a significant leap forward in India’s space capabilities. The PSLV-C60 rocket carrying SpaDeX lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Monday night.
This mission, ISRO’s final launch of the year, successfully demonstrated the ability to dock and undock two spacecraft in orbit. This achievement places India among an elite group of nations – the USA, Russia, and China – capable of this complex maneuver.
The SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator, crucial for future endeavors such as the planned Chandrayaan-4 mission, which involves multiple modules requiring in-space assembly. ISRO Chairman Dr. S Somanath highlighted the significance of SpaDeX for the future of Indian space exploration, especially for missions involving multiple modules launched at different times.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh lauded ISRO’s achievement, emphasizing the organization’s continued success in advancing India’s global standing in space technology. The successful docking and undocking capability is a major technological advancement and paves the way for more ambitious space missions in the future.
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