April 9, 2023: The spacecraft will be utilized by PSLV and launched in a high Earth orbit. Continue reading to know more!
The European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission consists of two instruments and sensor-loaded spacecraft, the Coronagraph spacecraft and the Occulter spacecraft, which have the capacity to fly and manoeuvre around with such high precision that the distance would be accurate even on a millimeter-scale.
"Proba-3 will function as an orbital laboratory, demonstrating acquisition, proximity, operation, formation flying, separation from 25 meters to 250 meters apart, while validating innovative meteorology sensors, and control algorithms, opening up novel methods of mission control," ESA said in a statement.
The spacecraft are all equipped now to leave onboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2024.
In a simulated space environment, the spacecraft will be subjected to a testing phase by the engineers. The experiments will include demonstrations based on precise flying exercises, and maintaining a solid conformation.
In order to study the corona and the deep mysteries swirling inside, it is very important to eclipse the Sun. This phenomenon is also replicated by the Moon during solar eclipse, although it lasts only for a few seconds.
The probes will together form a 144-m long solar coronagraph to study the Sun’s corona closer to the solar rim than has ever before been achieved to facilitate accurate observation of the fainter coronal sides.
The 340-kilogram spacecraft will be deployed by PSLV, a third-generation launch vehicle, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, in a high Earth orbit (highly elliptical) 600 x 60530 km.
Before that, it will be transferred to IABG in Germany to initiate the testing four-month environmental test campaign and to simulate space environments in testing situations.
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