ISRO on Thursday began a revised 8.5-hour countdown to the launch of the European Space Agency’s Proba 3 mission, following a delay caused by “an anomaly detected”. Satellite Propulsion System.
The Bengaluru-based space agency has rescheduled the launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission to 4.04 pm on December 5, following a request from ESA. It was initially scheduled to take off from their spaceport at 4.08pm on Wednesday.
Sharing a post on X, Isro said, “PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 mission. The countdown has begun. Lift-off time 16.04 pm IST, 5 December 2024. Stay tuned as PSLV-C59 ESA’s Proba-3 Preparing to deploy satellites into orbit.”
“Probas,” is a Latin word that translates to “let’s try.”
- Proba 3 (Project for Onboard Anatomy) has two satellites: Coronagraph (310 kg) and Occulter (240 kg).
- These spacecraft are designed to operate in a precise configuration to probe the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, while maintaining an accuracy of up to a millimeter.
- According to ESA, the Sun’s corona is much hotter than its surface and serves as the origin of space weather, making it a subject of considerable scientific and practical interest.
- The primary objective is to demonstrate the flight capabilities of the precise formation, with both spacecraft units being deployed together in a simultaneous configuration when they reach the desired orbital position.
- The PSLV-C59 rocket, which is 44.5 meters tall, is on its 61st flight and 26th mission.
PSLV-XL variant Designed to deploy heavy satellites. - After liftoff at 4:04 PM, the two satellites, Coronagraph and Occulter, will embark on an 18-minute journey to achieve their assigned orbits.
- Once in position, the two spacecraft will operate 150 meters apart, acting as a unified satellite system.
- This configuration allows the occulter to block the Sun’s solar disk, enabling the Coronagraph to observe and study the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, for scientific research.
Protected by the ESA Treaty NEW SPACE INDIA LIMITEDCommercial Division of ISRO.
For ISRO, apart from providing its trusty workhorse PSLV vehicle for the launch, the mission will provide key insights to conduct scientific experiments on the Sun after its first mission – Aditya-L1 which will successfully launch in September 2023. was done
The mission, supported by the General Support Technology Program, involves satellites that will approach the solar rim for six hours each session, with each spacecraft after approximately 19 hours of Earth orbit.
The mission was expected to be a historic collaboration, marking the return of ESA with ISRO after 23 years. The launch was particularly challenging, demanding that the PSLV take the spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit with an unusual apogee and perigee.