Isro chairman S. Somnath said that traffic jam in space was delaying their SpaDeX experimentation. SpaDeX is short for Space Docking Experiment. The SpaDeX technology demonstration has been delayed by four days. The PSLV-C60 flight carrying a pair of satellites was initially scheduled to be launched on December 26, 2024 but now has been deferred to December 30. “There is traffic jam in the space. The orbit into which the rocket is supposed to enter is now aligned with many other planets, leading to the delay. Hence, the experimentation scheduled to take place at 9.58 pm is delayed by two minutes and rescheduled to 10.15,” he said, in an interview with a national media outlet. The rocket will lift off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR). However, this is not the first time that a delay has occurred in the launch. In 2023, during the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, there was a delay of a few minutes. Isro scientists identified that several satellites of Starlink were coming in the way. Over 7,000 satellites of Starlink are at the bottom of the earth’s orbit. For quite some time in the past, these star clusters have been leading to traffic jam. The space debris poses a threat to the satellites, he said. The Isro’s mission has two spaceships — the Chaser (SDX01) and the Target (SDX02), each weighing 220 kgs. As per the names, the chaser will have to chase the target while both are orbiting Earth at a high speed and dock with it expeditiously.
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