Overview
- India’s government confirmed in Parliament that ISRO is studying two follow-on SPADEX docking experiments to test operations in different orbits.
- SPADEX-2 will attempt docking and undocking in a highly elliptical orbit, where spacecraft swing from low to very high altitude, and it will practice transferring a sample between two vehicles to mirror Chandrayaan-4 needs.
- SPADEX-3 will test pressurised docking in a circular orbit using the indigenous Bharatiya Docking System, serving as a precursor to operations on the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
- Both experiments are at the study stage with no launch dates announced, and the government invited universities and national labs to contribute payloads, algorithms, and experimental tech.
- ISRO proved a basic docking capability with SPADEX-1 in 2025, and the new trials aim to enable crew transfer, refuelling, and station assembly as India targets its first space-station module around 2028.