On December 5th at 11:34 AM, ESA's Proba-3 mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, marking a significant milestone in space exploration as the world's first precision formation flight.
This mission, developed in collaboration with DTU Space and international partners, aims to explore the Sun's corona, its mysterious outer layer. John Leif Jørgensen, a professor at DTU Space, emphasizes the mission's potential impact on future space research and technology.
Proba-3 features two satellites flying in precise formation, maintaining a distance of just one millimeter. One satellite will shield the Sun's light, allowing the other to study the surrounding corona, an area critical for understanding space weather.
A major challenge of the mission is achieving this tight formation. DTU Space has developed the Proba-3 Vision-Based Sensor System, which utilizes advanced cameras for navigation and position maintenance under extreme conditions.
Furthermore, the mission incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to enable the satellites to autonomously adjust their positions, marking a significant step towards more autonomous and efficient space missions.
In addition to solar studies, Proba-3 will test technology to track and manage space debris, addressing the increasing risk of collisions in Earth's orbit. Jørgensen concludes that this mission is just the beginning of a series of future missions utilizing the innovative technology being tested.