The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 satellites to conduct formation flying in space and study the Sun.
The satellites will be launched onboard PSLV-XL from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on December 4.
The Indian space agency is using the XL version of its workhorse PSLV rocket to launch the satellites.
The Proba (PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy) missions are a series of in-orbit demonstration (IOD) missions from the European Space Agency for demonstrating and validating new technologies and concepts in orbit.
ESA has launched three Proba missions so far — Proba-1 in 2001, Proba-2 in 2009, and Proba-V in 2012.
The European team, currently in India, successfully encapsulated the spacecraft in the payload fairing to complete the integration of the PSLV.
This mission marks a significant collaboration between ISRO and ESA, aimed at studying the Sun’s corona, the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere, which is crucial for understanding solar dynamics and space weather phenomena.
Proba-3 is notable for being the world’s first precision formation flying mission, involving two satellites that will operate in tandem to create artificial solar eclipses.
These satellites will be separated by approximately 150 meters in a highly elliptical orbit, allowing them to block sunlight and observe the corona in unprecedented detail.
This setup enables continuous observations for up to six hours, significantly extending the duration of typical solar observations compared to natural eclipses.
Weighing a total of 550 kg, the two satellites—the Occulter and the Coronagraph—are designed to work together to capture detailed images of the corona.
Each Proba-3 satellite is powered by high-efficiency solar panels.
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The satellite called the Occulter Spacecraph (or OSC) features a 1.4-m-diameter occulting disk, which will be kept perpendicular to the direction of the Sun’s light. This disk will cast a shadow, of about 8 cm width at around 150 m.The satellite called the Coronagraph (or CSC) hosts a scientific telescope with a 5 cm aperture.
This launch not only demonstrates Isro’s capabilities as a reliable launch partner but also underscores India’s growing role in global space exploration.
