Countdown Begins for Space Docking Experiment, ISRO's Milestone Space Programme

ISRO will launch a PSLV rocket on Monday to test space docking technology, a milestone towards its lunar and space station ambitions.

The countdown will begin a 9:58 pm on Monday.

Source : PTI

The countdown has begun for ISRO's Space Docking Experiment onboard a PSLV rocket on Monday which would be a key milestone in the country's space programme. The countdown for the cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for in-space docking began on Sunday evening, said the space agency. 

The space programme would make India join an elite list featuring China, Russia and the US.

The lift-off of the PSLV-C60 rocket has been scheduled at 10:00 pm from the first launch pad at the spaceport in Sriharikota on Monday night, reported PTI. The rocket would carry SpaDex with two spacecraft as the primary payloads along with 24 secondary payloads. 

"PSLV-C60/SpaceX Mission Launch countdown commenced at 9 pm" on Sunday, an ISRO official told the news agency. 

The in-space docking technology will take up India's ambitions in space including sending humans to the Moon, bringing samples from there, and also building and operating India's own space station- Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

The docking technology will also be used when multiple rocket launches are planned to achieve common mission objectives.

According to ISRO, the two spacecraft in the PSLV rocket, Spacecraft A (SDX01) and Spacecraft B (SDX02) will be placed in an orbit that would keep them 5 km apart from each other. The ISRO scientists will later try to bring them closer up to 3 metres subsequently leading them to merge together at an altitude of about 470km above Earth, as per the report. 

The process is expected to take place about 10-14 days after the scheduled lift-off on Monday, according to ISRO officials. 

Spacecraft A would carry a High-Resolution Camera, while Spacecraft B would have a Miniature Multispectral Payload and a Radiation Monitor Payload. The payload would provide high-resolution images, natural resource monitoring, and vegetation studies among others.