India achieves 'historic' space docking mission

Bengaluru, India: India docked two satellites in space Thursday, a key milestone for the country s dreams of a space station and manned Moon mission,...

Bengaluru, India: India docked two satellites in space Thursday, a key milestone for the country's dreams of a space station and manned Moon mission, the space agency said.

The satellites, weighing 220-kilogrammes (485 pounds) each, blasted off in December on a single rocket from India's Sriharikota launch site. Later they separated.

On Thursday, the two satellites were manoeuvered back together in a "precision" process resulting in a "successful spacecraft capture", the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, calling it a "historic moment".

India became the fourth country to achieve the feat -- dubbed as SpaDeX, or Space Docking Experiment -- after Russia, the United States and China.

???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????: Following the docking, ISRO has successfully managed both satellites as a combined unit. In the upcoming days, ISRO will proceed with undocking and power transfer evaluations.#SPADEX #ISRO pic.twitter.com/tMmCcF5opG