BENGALURU: India became the world's fourth nation to achieve the feat of space docking, a technological milestone that underscores its ambitions to expand its share of a rapidly growing $400-billion global space market. Target and Chaser, two satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) that are each roughly the size of a large refrigerator, successfully latched onto each other at about 9 am, an agency spokesperson said.
The indigenous technology, crucial for satellite servicing, space station operations and interplanetary missions, positions India for a key role in commercial and exploratory space efforts. "India has ambitious missions planned and to achieve those, this is an important technology," astrophysicist Jayant Murthy said.
"Various missions, like building a space station, need assembly in space, which is not possible without space docking." Isro said the two satellites participating in its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), will now be controlled as a single object, with power transfer checks made in the next few days. — Reuters
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