For comparision's sake. This was China's first docking test in 2011. It was done with a full-sized, fully operable (though unmanned) supply vehicle and a space station module.
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This is India's today:
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This is actually quite funny!
They are doing this docking experiment with two satellites (not actual space vehicles usable by a manned crew.)
Well it seems that they can't get them aligned in low orbit and might need to delay until March! Nobody thought this through? Or they simply don't have the ability they thought they had?
In the SpaDeX project, the two satellites have been placed in a low orbit and are travelling with a speed of 7 km per second. Now according to the experts, the problem with low flying satellites is that the spacecrafts position keeps changing with the earth's rotation, which further complicates the tracking tasks for the scientists.
As position keeps shifting, there is hardly a 15-20 minute window for the docking move.
You should refer to this
for more information.
regarding ISRO docking two satellites with no crew onboard. Well, this is our first attempt at it and we are just validating the technologies developed. Obviously we will use the option with least risk to test it out and we are also low on budget when compared to other behemoths in space. China did it their own way which can be said to be grander or more complicated, well ok, I congratulate them, but is that way the SOP of doing your first docking in space? No. We landed on moon a decade after China, but what do i make out of it?
Also, can we have a little bit of patience and wait for information (especially if it has failed yet or not) before claiming things like "they dont know how to do it, they did not think about it, China did it before"
We dont even have all the details and as the project has not failed yet, just postponed, how can we make all the big claims about ISRO not knowing basic things that you pointed out? This is so premature.
And the comparison with China is not necessary, especially in the space field. India is not aiming to defeat China, USA or Russia in space. We are just gradually advancing our technologies to enable us to perform deep space
like moon landing and space station stuff. Even if china lands people on moon this month, we would still work according to our own goals and needs.
Also, Why does this situation seem funny to you?
