BENGALURU — The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday confirmed the successful in-orbit docking of its two Space Docking Experiment satellites, a key technology demonstration for future crewed missions and the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station.

The SpaDeX mission involved two small spacecraft, designated the Chaser and the Target, manoeuvring to within metres of each other before latching together in low Earth orbit. ISRO had rescheduled the delicate rendezvous following earlier timeline slippages.

Autonomous docking is a prerequisite for assembling large structures in orbit and for transferring crew and cargo between vehicles. ISRO has described the capability as essential to its Gaganyaan crewed programme and to its goal of operating an indigenous space station by the mid-2030s.

An ISRO spokesperson said the docking validated the rendezvous sensors, guidance algorithms and the indigenous docking mechanism developed for the mission. The agency will attempt an undocking and power-transfer demonstration between the two joined satellites in the coming days.

Success places India among a small group of nations and agencies, including the United States, Russia and China, that have demonstrated autonomous orbital docking. The achievement strengthens ISRO's position as it pursues an expanding slate of crewed and deep-space missions.