The Indian Space Agency has successfully connected two small aircraft in space for the first time.

The technology is critical to the country’s future ambitions to build an Indian space station and send humans to the moon.

Task named SpaDeX explode It was launched on December 30 from the Sriharikota launch pad in southern India. The two spacecraft were mounted on a rocket and separated in space. The docking process was originally scheduled for January 7 but was later rescheduled multiple times.

On Thursday morning, the space agency announced that it had made history by becoming the fourth country in the world to possess such technology, after the United States, Russia and China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the Indian Research Organization offices in Bangalore when the scientists conducted the tests.

He later posted on X: “This is an important stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the coming years.”

Union Science Minister Jitendra Singh expressed relief that the docking had “finally” happened.

The two spacecraft on SpaDeX, short for Space Docking Experiment, are called SDX01, or “Pursuer,” and SDX02, or “Target.” Weighing about 220 kilograms (485 pounds) each, they have traveled through space at carefully chosen speeds since launch.

“They were thrown into space together, but when separated, they were placed at different speeds to enable them to establish a distance of 10 to 20 kilometers between them,” said Mira, a former NASA scientist and co-founder of the Delhi-based company Mila Mitra said. Space education company Stem and Space told the BBC.

“During the docking process, scientists manipulate them to shorten the distance so they can mate,” she added.

The docking was initially scheduled for January 7, but ISRO later postponed it by two days, saying they “need to conduct more testing through simulations” before the actual docking.

The second time, it said a glitch occurred while trying to zoom in on the satellite, but added The spacecraft is safe.

On Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organization said scientists had successfully reduced the distance between the tracker and the target first to 15 meters and then to 3 metres. They said the spacecraft “moved back to a safe distance” after the test attempt and they were analyzing the data.

S Somanath, who was the head of the Indian Space Research Organization when SpaDeX (short for Space Docking Experiment) was launched, had been monitoring its progress until his retirement a few days ago. He described docking as “a very complex process” that requires extreme precision and coordination.

First, the two spacecraft must be in the same orbit so that Chaser can begin to approach the target.

On Thursday morning, scientists began gradually reducing the speed of the two spacecrafts, bringing them closer and closer until they were only 3 meters apart. Their connectors are then locked together.

In the next step, the two spacecrafts were perfectly tightened to form an airtight channel for the safe transfer of materials or personnel, completing the docking in space.

An ISRO official told the BBC that over the next two to three days, the mission will conduct what it calls one of its most important experiments – which will transfer power from the Chaser to the Target.

Ms. Mitra said this was to demonstrate that one spacecraft could be sent into space to provide services to another spacecraft.

The experiment will then demonstrate “detachment and separation of two satellites.”

Ms. Mitra said the mission will also test India’s inter-satellite communication capabilities as the spacecraft must communicate with earth stations and each other during docking and undocking processes to know each other’s position and speed.

The spacecraft also carries scientific instruments and cameras, which will be deployed later. Over the next two years, they will measure space radiation and monitor Earth’s natural resources.

ISRO, known for sparing missions, also conducted some important experiments in orbit for three months using parts of the rocket that launched SpaDeX into space, which would normally become space debris.

Poem – short for PS4 Orbital Experiment Module – carries 24 payloads and has already conducted two successful experiments.

The first shows the germination of a seed. Last week, the Indian Space Research Organization Tweet A video said, “The cowpea sprouts revealed their first leaves in microgravity space.” Microgravity is a state of near weightlessness experienced on board a spacecraft.

Scientists say this is good news because it means future astronauts can produce food on long-duration missions.

The second experiment involved the robotic arm, one of the rocket’s most important payloads, Ms. Mitra said. one video The Indian Space Research Organization’s (Isro) X account shows a robotic arm moving to grab a piece of space debris.

Ms Mitra said the arm would “play a vital role in the construction of the space station as it can be used to capture objects and place them in place”. It will also come in handy during India’s next lunar mission, ‘Chandrayaan-4’, which aims to collect and bring back lunar soil samples, she added.

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