By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Chandni Shah
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s space agency launched its first space docking mission on an Indian-made rocket on Monday in an attempt to become the fourth country to achieve the advanced technological feat.
The mission, seen as pivotal for future space endeavours, including satellite servicing and the operation of India’s planned space station, lifted off from India’s main spaceport at 4:30 p.m. GMT aboard ISRO’s “workhorse” PSLV rocket.
After around 15 minutes, the mission director called the launch mission successful, after the spacecraft reached an altitude of around 480 km.
In-space docking technology is crucial when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve shared mission objectives.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Chandni Shah in BengaluruEditing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton)
