SpaDeX along with 24 PS4-Orbital Experiment Module (POEM-4) payloads was launched on a PSLV-C60 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).

• The spacecraft was designed and realised by the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with support of other ISRO centres.
  • U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru, is lead centre of ISRO for building satellites and developing associated satellite technologies.

SpaDeX Mission Overview

• Orbit Details: 470 km circular orbit at 55° inclination.
• Mission Life: Up to two years post-docking operations.
• Objectives: 
  • Primary: To develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft (SDX01(Chaser), and SDX02(Target)) in a low-Earth circular orbit.
  • Secondary: Transfer of electric power between docked spacecraft and Composite spacecraft control and payload operations post-undocking. 
• Indigenous technologies Developed:
  • Inter-satellite communication link (ISL) for autonomous communication between spacecraft.
  • GNSS Based Novel Relative Orbit Determination and Propagation (RODP) processor: To determine relative position and velocity of other spacecraft.
    • Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) refers to any satellite constellation that provides global positioning, navigation, and timing services. E.g. Galileo (EU) GPS (USA) etc.
  • Other indigenous technologies developed for enabling this mission: Docking mechanism, Sensor Suite, autonomous rendezvous and docking strategy etc.