ISRO will launch Proba-3 mission for ESA tomorrow. What is the mission of the Sun? – Times of India

Artist’s impression of Proba-3 (Credit: ESA)

India and the European space agencies have joined forces for the launch of Proba-3, the world’s first precision formation flying mission, also known as the Suraj mission. The purpose of this mission is Study the sun’s corona.Closer to the Solar Rim than ever before. Proba 3, or Sun mission is the latest addition to ESA’s family of in-orbit demonstration missions.
what is Proba 3 mission?
gave European Space AgencyThe Proba-3 mission is focused on demonstrating technologies and techniques for building highly accurate satellites. It would consist of two small satellites launched together, which would then separate and fly in sync, to produce an artificial eclipse. This landmark mission is seen as a stepping stone for future multi-satellite missions that operate as a single virtual structure.
Proba-3 stands as a common milestone in space technology, developed over a decade in collaboration with 14 European countries and 29 industrial partners. The mission is funded by ESA’s General Support Technology Program, which includes significant contributions from companies such as Sener, Redwire, and Airbus Defense and Space.
How does Proba-3 work?
The two small satellites, acting as a ‘large rigid structure’, will be launched together in a stacked configuration into a very elliptical orbit (600 x 60,530 km, with an inclination of about 59 degrees). They will separate about 18 minutes after liftoff, with the flight control team at ESA’s ESEC facility in Reudu, Belgium, expected to receive the first signal about 15 minutes later.
This separation, estimated to be accurate to within a millimeter (about the thickness of an average fingernail), would create a solar coronagraph about 150 meters long to observe the Sun’s faint corona. The two satellites will be perfectly aligned with the Sun, 150 meters apart, so that one casts a carefully controlled shadow on the other.
According to the ESA, unlike natural solar eclipses, which last less than ten minutes and are infrequent, Proba-3 will offer a 100-fold increase in study time. The mission will produce about 50 ‘eclipses’ each year, each lasting six hours, giving researchers an unprecedented opportunity to study the interactions of the Sun’s complex atmosphere.
When will it be launched?
The Suraj Mission, led by the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), is scheduled for launch on December 4 at 16:08 IST or 10:38 GMT, on a PSLV-XL rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.
The launch can be watched via ESA WebTV and on ISRO’s YouTube channel starting around 15:38 IST or 10:08 GMT.
The term ‘proba’ is derived from the Latin phrase ‘let’s try’. It refers to a series of experimental missions, starting with Proba-1, followed by Proba-2, which observed the Sun in 2009, and 2013. Proba-V, a large-scale ground observation for vegetation.