ISRO set to mark 100th launch with GSLV mission after successful SpaDeX experiment: Isro chief | India News

NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will reach a historic milestone with the 100th rocket launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in January, ISRO Chairman S Somanath announced.
This achievement will be highlighted by a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) mission, following Monday’s successful mission. PSLV-C60 mission, which marked the 99th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport.
India on Monday took a major step toward joining an exclusive group of nations with space docking technology: the ability to dock two spacecraft in space. ISRO successfully placed two small satellites, each weighing 220 kg, into orbit as part of the Spatial docking experiment (SpaDeX) mission.
The PSLV-C60 rocket, which lifted off shortly after 10 p.m. from the first launch pad in Sriharikota, placed the satellites into a 475-kilometer circular orbit about 15 minutes later. The first satellite separated 15.1 minutes after launch, followed by the second at 15.2 minutes.
M Sankaran, director of UR Rao Satellite Center (URSC), explained that the “hunter” and “target” spacecraft were launched with a small relative speed, allowing them to approach each other for possible future docking operations.
Speaking after the successful launch of PSLV-C60, Somanath highlighted the importance of the milestone: “You have all seen the majestic lift-off and launch of the SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) rocket, and for us, this is the 99th launch of any vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Center is also a very important number, so we are going to carry out the 100th launch early next year.”
Monday’s PSLV-C60 mission paves the way for more complex docking experiments, and Somanath noted, “There will be many more SpaDeX varieties, including complex docking system missions in the coming days.”
ISRO’s ambitious plans continue until 2025, with the launch of the NVS-02 navigation satellite scheduled for January using a GSLV rocket. This follows the successful deployment of the NVS-01 satellite in May 2023, the first of the second-generation satellites for navigation services with the Indian Constellation (NavIC).
The launch of PSLV-C60 was initially scheduled for 9:58 pm on December 30, but was rescheduled for 10 pm following a “conjunction study” to ensure there is no proximity between the satellites in orbit. Somanath explained the process: “If we find that there is a close proximity between the satellites, then we have to move the current satellite a little bit. We either delay it or advance it, so that this proximity condition does not occur.”