India successfully fought a “fighter” in space between chasers and target satellites, here's what you need to know

India is currently performing unique and advanced “dog fights” in space, involving “chasers” and “target” satellite locations approximately 500 kilometers. This is a similar exercise conducted by China's defense satellites in low-Earth orbit in 2024.

“Dog Fighting” in space involves coordination between spacecraft, close-range maneuvers, similar to air struggle between fighters.

The Indian effort represents another element of the ambitious Spadex mission of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which seamlessly integrates many social and strategic goals.

Two Indian satellites travel at 28,800 kilometers per hour, 28 times faster than commercial passenger planes and 10 times faster than bullet speeds – automatically participating in the precise flight mode carefully planned by ISRO. Both satellites perform rendezvous and proximity actions.

The current “dog hit” follows a few weeks ago between the chaser and the target satellite that occurred earlier, manually controlled orphans or Parikrama.

In an interview with NDTV, ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan said that in Spadex Mission, India has “successfully proved two docks and revocations.”

Following these extended docking and evacuation operations, the ISRO chief reported that 50% of the fuel remained on both satellites.

The ISRO chief also pointed out that precise rocket launches and efficient orbit management have enabled the satellite to fuel nearly 2.5 kilograms, which will extend the life of the mission.

Commodore General (Retd) Anshuman Narang, director and founder of independent think tank Atma Nirbhar Soch, praised the effort, noting that “through this struggle in this space, ISRO is pushing the right field of technology. It’s a good thing, and it’s a great thing to do with the advanced SwadeShi Is space and Indromiative and Space and Indromiative. Atmanirbhar Bharat needs.”

Space experts are closely monitoring China's space development.

China's recent use of multiple satellites has shown similar capabilities, which has attracted attention from the U.S. space force to narrow the technology gap between competitors.

Previously, ISRO successfully proved the docking of Spadex satellites (SDX 01 & SDX 02) for the second time on April 20.

The power transmission between the SDX 02 and SDX 01 satellites was successfully carried out on April 21.

The experiment involved operating one power in one satellite using heater elements from another satellite, the transfer lasted about 4 minutes, and the satellite was performed as expected.

In the second docking attempt, docking was completely autonomous from a 15m intersatellite distance, while the first attempt included a 3m manual fixation.

The second docking experiment followed detailed ground simulations and orbital tests, based on initial docking and evacuation experiences, thereby enhancing confidence in the second demonstration.

A successful demonstration of fully autonomous second seat and power transmission represents a key milestone in the Spadex mission. The first docking was completed on January 16 this year.

ISRO successfully docked two Indian satellites in space, orbiting 475 kilometers above Earth, making India the fourth country, following Russia, the United States and China, mastering the master's degree.

India launched the Spadex mission using the PSLV rocket on December 30 last year. Docking is a crucial technology for future missions such as Chandrayaan-4 and Bhartiya Antariksha Station.