ISRO’s SpaDeX satellites successfully re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after completing their mission. Launched on December 30, 2024, the two satellites performed complex docking tests in space. Isro said the mission showed critical autonomous technologies. Both spacecraft stayed healthy until the end, eventually falling over the oceans as their fuel got used.
The two satellites that were involved in the first-ever docking performed in space by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere recently, the agency said in a statement on Friday. Isro said this marked the completion of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission.
Launched aboard the PSLV-C60 on December 30, 2024, the mission demonstrated critical autonomous rendezvous and low-impact docking technologies using two satellites, SpaDeX-A and SpaDeX-B, in a 470-km circular orbit around the Earth.
During the mission, the satellites completed vertical and radial docking, composite control, power transfer, undocking, payload operations and circumnavigation, marking significant progress in India’s space-docking capabilities.
After completing their operational phase, the satellites exhausted their fuel and gradually lost orbital altitude before re-entering the atmosphere. Two moderate geomagnetic storms on October 4 and 11 accelerated their orbital ‘decay’, Isro said.
SpaDeX-A re-entered over the South Pacific Ocean at around 16.48 UTC (10.16 pm IST) on October 12, while SpaDeX-B re-entered over the North Atlantic Ocean at approximately 23.36 UTC the same day (5.06 am, October 13. Isro said its mission management had ensured that both spacecraft remained healthy until the reception of their final telemetry frames.