The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday successfully launched the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission aboard the PSLV-C59 rocket, which took off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. .
In its 61st launch, the PSLV lifted off a little after 4 pm on a revised schedule – the mission was initially planned for Wednesday but was postponed due to a malfunction in the satellite’s propulsion system. – and put the satellite into the desired orbit for more than 18 minutes. After that
The first acquisition of the signal was expected at ESA’s ESEC facility in Redeau, Belgium, about a quarter of an hour after separation.
The latest member of ESA’s family of in-orbit demonstration missions, Proba-3 is actually two spacecraft launched together in a dedicated commercial mission implemented by space PSU NewSpace India Limited (Nsil).
NSIL CMD Radhakrishnan D told TOI from Sriharikota: “We are happy to have successfully completed the launch dedicated to ESA. This is the first time that PSLV has reached an apogee of about 60,500 km. With such a highly elliptical orbit, PSLV has once again demonstrated its reliability and capability to launch customer satellite missions in various orbits.”
In satellite orbit, precise formations about the thickness of an average fingernail, a millimeter apart, would separate to begin flying.
“To prove its performance, Proba-3 has been dedicated to an ambitious science mission. The pair will line up with the Sun exactly 150 meters apart to cast precisely controlled shadows on each other.” ESA said.
By intercepting the Sun’s burning disk, Proba-3’s ‘Occulter’ spacecraft will simulate an Earth-based total solar eclipse, to reveal views of the Sun’s dusty atmosphere, or ‘corona’, which is a million miles away from its parent. Guna is more weak. Star Probe 3’s second ‘Coronograph’ spacecraft hosts the optical instrument that will observe the solar corona.
“On Earth, total solar eclipses occur on average every 18 months, and last only a few minutes. Solar scientists have to travel all over the world to take advantage of them. Proba-3 creates solar eclipses on demand. It will be able, compared to any previous ground-based or space-based instrument, to observe down to just 1.1 solar radii Ga,” according to the ESA.
Proba-3 will also conduct general formation flying experiments including mating, resizing the distance between pairs and joint retargeting. The goal is to achieve the equivalent performance of a virtual spacecraft measuring about 150 meters, demonstrating a new way of operating missions in space, where instruments can be shared between multiple platforms.