The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that its Proba-3 mission, a pair of satellites that will demonstrate precise formation flying in space, will be launched on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2024. The launch contract was signed between ESA and Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on January 4, 2024.
Proba-3: A mission to create an artificial eclipse and study the Sun
Proba-3 is a technology demonstration mission that aims to test the feasibility and performance of formation flying, a technique that allows multiple spacecraft to fly in a coordinated manner and act as a single virtual instrument. Proba-3 consists of two satellites, an occulter and a coronagraph, that will fly about 150 meters apart and create an artificial solar eclipse. This will allow the coronagraph to observe the Sun’s faint outer atmosphere, or corona, without being blinded by the bright solar disk.
The mission will also demonstrate various technologies and techniques for formation flying, such as autonomous navigation, guidance, control, and communication systems, as well as advanced sensors and actuators. The mission will also test the use of electric propulsion for orbit and attitude control, and the use of a cold gas thruster for formation keeping.
The launch of Proba-3 on PSLV marks the first time that ESA has entrusted an Indian launcher with one of its missions. The PSLV is a reliable and versatile rocket that can launch multiple satellites into different orbits. The PSLV has a record of 55 successful launches, including the historic Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Mission. The PSLV will launch Proba-3 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The launch of Proba-3 on PSLV is a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership between ESA and ISRO in the field of space exploration. The two agencies have collaborated on several missions, such as Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, and BepiColombo. The two agencies have also signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on future missions, such as the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission and the Aditya-L1 solar mission.
Proba-3 is expected to have a nominal mission duration of two years, with a possible extension of one year. The mission will provide valuable scientific data on the Sun’s corona, as well as pave the way for future formation flying missions, such as LISA, a gravitational wave observatory, and Darwin, a planet-hunting telescope. Proba-3 is part of ESA’s In-Orbit Demonstration Programme, which aims to test and validate new technologies and concepts in space.
About ISRO’s PSLV
PSLV stands for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, and it is a medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). PSLV can launch multiple satellites into different orbits, such as low Earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit, and sub-geosynchronous orbit. PSLV has four stages, with the first and third stages using solid propellants and the second and fourth stages using liquid propellants.
PSLV also has different variants, such as PSLV-G, PSLV-CA, PSLV-XL, PSLV-DL, and PSLV-QL, depending on the number and size of strap-on boosters used. PSLV has a record of 60 launches, with 57 successful, 2 failures, and 1 partial failure. PSLV has been used to launch various important missions, such as Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, Astrosat, NAVIC, and Aditya-L1. PSLV is also the first Indian launcher to launch a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, Proba-3, in 2024.
