India docks 2 satellites in space in a milestone for its scientific ambitions

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JAMMU, India (AP) — India docked two satellites in space Thursday to become the fourth nation to complete such a mission, officials said, in a milestone for the country’s scientific ambitions.

The two satellites weighing 220 kilograms (485 pounds) each were blasted into orbit on a single rocket in December and sent into slightly different orbits. On Thursday, they were maneuvered back together in a "precision" operation, according to the the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO.

“India docked its name in space history!” the ISRO said in a post on social media site X, adding that “control of two satellites as a single object is successful.”

The mission had been postponed twice earlier due to technical issues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Indian scientists on the successful mission. “It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come,” he said on X.

The maneuver, earlier achieved by only the Soviet Union, the United States and China, showcased India’s rising standing as a space powerhouse and dovetails with its desire to assert its place among the global elite.

In 2023, Modi said that India’s space agency will set up an Indian-crafted space station by 2035 and land an Indian astronaut on the moon by 2040.

Active in space research since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014.

After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole in 2023 in a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold reserves of frozen water. The mission was dubbed as a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.