India's space agency ISRO postponed a highly anticipated space docking mission for the second time late Wednesday. The agency cited an issue arising from excess drift between the satellites, without disclosing a new date for the docking.

The maneuver to bring the satellites to a distance of 500 metres from each other is likely to be achieved on Saturday, the agency said in a statement.

ISRO's SpaDeX mission takes a crucial step forward despite delays, as the spacecraft begin a slow drift course to prepare for India's first space docking experiment.

He said the task was a huge one as the strength of the space community in the public sector was not increasing substantially.

The two satellites launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for a space docking experiment may soon attain the conditions needed to commence the mission. The docking experiment, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed after the satellites drifted more than expected during a manoeuvre to reduce the distance between them.

ISRO's space docking experiment has so far missed two publicly announced schedules, on January 7 and January 9.

ISRO is planning to carry out its ambitious space docking experiment using two satellites in orbit. If the ISRO succeeds in its mission, India will become the