NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Two spacecraft that would aid ISRO in demonstrating space docking, a critical technology for future space missions got separated successfully and were placed into the desired low earth orbit late on Monday night, ISRO said.

"PSLV C60 mission accomplished as of SpaDeX spacecraft is considered," said Mission director M Jayakumar.

Dubbed as a prelude to ISRO setting up its own Space Station by 2035, the PSLV-C60 mission would also make India join an elite club in achieving this feat which is expected to take place in the coming days.

The 44.5 metre tall rocket carried two spacecraft -- Spacecraft A and B, each weighing 220kg which would help in space docking, satellite servicing and interplanetary missions.

After the culmination of the 25 hour countdown which commenced on Sunday, the rocket lifted-off at 10 pm from the First Launch Pad at this spaceport, emanating thick orange coloured fumes and thunderous sound in the island, located about 135 km east of Chennai.

According to ISRO scientists, the two spacecraft-Spacecraft A (SDX01) or the 'Chaser' and Spacecraft B (SDX02) or the 'Target' would be merged together later at an altitude of about 470 km after travelling at the same speed and distance.

By mastering the docking technologies, ISRO is set to enhance its operational flexibility and also expand its mission horizons.

This technology is essential for some of India's space ambitions like Indian on Moon, getting samples from the Moon (Chandrayaan-4 mission), building and operation of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

"In-space docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. Through this mission, India is marching towards becoming the fourth country in the world to have space docking technology," ISRO said.

The others to achieve this technological feat are China, Russia and the US.

While the Spacecraft has reached the desired orbit, in the coming days, scientists would take measures to merge the two by reducing the distance between them, ultimately leading to the docking of the spacecraft.

The launch of PSLV-C60 would be the last mission undertaken by the ISRO in 2024. Incidentally, the space agency began 2024 with the successful launch of PSLV-C58/XPOSAT mission on January 1.

Monday's PSLV rocket also becomes the first vehicle to be integrated upto the fourth stage at the PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) that has been established at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

ISRO Puts PROBA-3 In Orbit

NEW DELHI, Dec 5: Indian space agency ISRO has successfully launched the European Space Agency's PROBA-3 satellite. The launch was on board ISRO's workhorse rocket - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV in its 61st commercial mission 'C-59'.

PROBA, short for Project for Onboard Anatomy, is a space programme under the European Space Agency or ESA. Under PROBA, there have been a series of satellite launches. Today's was the third in that series, hence the name PROBA-3.PROBA-3 is a solar mission. It's aim is to study the Sun's corona at a level of precision never done before.

PROBA-3 consists of two independent, three-axis stabilised spacecraft - the Coronagraph Spacecraft or CSC, which is 310 kg and the Occulter Spacecraft or OSC, which is 240 kg. Both spacecraft will have a highly elliptical orbit around Earth whose apogee or distance farthest from the surface of the planet at the equator will be 60,500 km.

According to the European Space Agency, the mission will demonstrate 'formation flying' within the context of a large-scale scientific experiment. The two spacecraft in orbit will create an approximately 150-metre-long solar coronagraph to study the Sun's faint corona closer to the solar rim than has ever been achieved before.

By flying in such a close formation - 150 metres - the Occulter Spacecraft will cast a precise shadow onto the Coronagraph's telescope, thereby blocking any direct sunlight. The Coronagraph will then be able to map and image the Sun's corona in the full electromagnetic spectrum - which includes visible light, Ultraviolet radiation (UV rays) and Infra-Red radiation (IR).

It will also be able to image the solar corona in polarised light - which is made up of waves that vibrate in a single plane and include linearly, circularly, and elliptically polarised lights. The CSC will be able to do this for many hours at a time.

The scientific objective of the PROBA-3 mission is to observe the Sun's corona at 1.1 solar radius in the visible wavelength range (visible light). Solar radius is a unit of distance used to describe the size of stars in comparison to the size of the Sun. 1 solar radius equals 6.95700 x 10(to the power 8) meters or 695,700 km. This is roughly 109 times the radius of the Earth. This would make PROBA-3 the most precise satellite to map and image the Sun's corona.

PROBA-3 marks the next step in formation flying. As a world first, its two satellites - the Coronagraph spacecraft and the Occulter spacecraft - will maintain formation to a few millimetres and arc second precision at distances of around 150 metres of each other for six hours at a time per 19-hour, 36-minute orbit. In effect the pair will be forming a virtual giant satellite. And this will be achieved autonomously, without relying on guidance from the ground.

Now that the two satellites have been successfully placed in orbit, there will be a short preparatory period for the two satellites in which some safety tests will be conducted by the European Space Agency. Because these two satellites will be independent yet flying in tandem in close proximity, a collision manoeuvre test will be conducted. Once these tests are complete, the two satellites will be placed into into a safe relative tandem orbit. They can then be left safely in with no risk of collision or running away from each other.

The PROBA-3 satellites will repetitively demonstrate acquisition, rendezvous, proximity operations, formation flying, coronagraph observations, separation and convoy flying in every orbit.

According to the Europan Space Agency, the PROBA-3 will be a "Laboratory in space" to validate strategies, guidance, navigation and control, and other algorithms, such as relative GPS navigation, previously tried in ground simulators. The ESA said that this mission includes a rendezvous experiment. It will test sensors and algorithms for satellites to Rendezvous (cooperative and uncooperative) in elliptical orbit. This cutting-edge technology could be used for a future Mars Sample return mission and for de-orbiting satellites from low-Earth orbit - which will also help declutter the Space around Earth.

'Stranded' Sunita Williams Now Commands International Space Station

NEW YORK, Oct 2: Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is now commander of the International Space Station. She was in space on an eight-day mission that had to be extended to over eight months because the Boeing Starliner spacecraft she travelled in faced technical glitches.

NASA has announced that Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko handed over the command of the space station to Sunita Williams at a ceremony onboard the space station.

Kononenko is completing a year-long mission on the station and is among three astronauts, along with Tracy C Dyson and Nikolai Chub, who are set to return to Earth.

Williams has been working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions.

This is the second time Sunita Williams is taking command of the ISS. She last took charge 12 years back. As commander of the International Space Station, her key responsibility will be to maintain safety onboard the space station.

Speaking at the formal handover event, Sunita Williams said. "This Expedition 71 has taught all of us a lot, the ability to adapt, you adopted Butch and me even though that was not part of the plan, you welcomed us as family."

Oleg Kononenko formally handed over a golden key to Sunita Williams -- a part used in the Soyuz spacecraft's docking port. An elated Sunita Williams was seen swirling and playing with the key in the near zero gravity environment of the ISS. In all, she has spent 431 days in space and is likely to return to Earth on the SpaceX Crew Dragon in February.

Earlier this month, Sunita Williams shared her thoughts on the unexpected delay and described the International Space Station as her "happy place". She mentioned how life in space has not been a difficult adjustment due to her previous experience -- this is her third sojourn into space.

The International Space Station is like a mini-city in space that has been flying for 25 years. The ISS weighs 419 tonnes, and costs over $150 billion. It is the size of a football field -- about 109 metres long. Astronauts see 16 sunrises daily in its orbit.

On June 6, after she reached the International Space Station, Sunita Williams hugged the crew members. "A big thanks to family and friends who lived this [moment] for a long time. I think you are glad we are not with you anymore and we have another family up here which is just awesome," she said.

Born to Dr Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya, 59-year-old Sunita Williams is also a Navy-trained pilot. She is also a marathon runner and ran one while on the International Space Station.

A lover of Indian cuisine, Sunita Williams will have fish curry during her space flight, NASA has confirmed. During her earlier flights, she has enjoyed samosas in space.