The article discusses the launch of the Proba-3 mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) in India on December 5, 2024. This mission aims to test innovative technologies for ultra-precise formation flight of two satellites, demonstrating that they can operate as a single system.
The two satellites will work together to create artificial solar eclipses in space. One of the satellites will cast a shadow on the other, which will study the solar corona (the Sun’s outer atmosphere) for periods of six consecutive hours. This method will fill an important gap in scientific observations, improving understanding of phenomena such as coronal mass ejections and solar wind, which influence “space weather.”
The mission is also a technological test bed. The satellites must maintain extreme positioning accuracy, the thickness of a fingernail, while operating at a distance of 150 meters from each other. This capability could revolutionize the way space missions are designed, paving the way for new modular structures in space, formed by small vehicles working together as a single unit.
The launch was carried out with India’s PSLV-XL rocket, and the satellites were placed in a highly elliptical orbit up to 60,500 km from Earth. After an initial testing phase, the two satellites will begin scientific operations early next year.
We could thus look out on a new perspective of science and the future, combining technologies and natural phenomena to create and especially seek new fronts of exploration; how far man is able to go and science able to amaze.
fonte: www.esa.int