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ISRO to Launch ESA's Proba-3 Satellites from Sriharikota
The countdown for Isro's dedicated commercial mission proba-3 spacecraft of the European Space Agency marking a 'proud milestone in India's space journey' is progressing for the launch scheduled later on Wednesday, the space agency said.
NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of Isro which would launch client vehicles, has bagged the order from ESA for its latest launch, which would be a 'technology demonstration' mission. The major objective of the mission is the first-of-its-kind formation flying in precision and to study the Sun's outer atmosphere.
"Liftoff Day is Here. PSLV-C59, demonstrating the tested excellence of Isro, stands ready to launch ESA's PROBA-3 satellites into orbit. This mission, powered by NSIL with Isro's engineering excellence, reflects the strength of international collaboration", said Isro on Wednesday.
An Isro official said that the 25 hour countdown that began at 3.08 pm on Tuesday is going on for the launch scheduled from the first launch pad at 4.08 pm on Wednesday at this spaceport here.
"A proud milestone in India's space journey and a shining example of global partnerships", the space agency said in an update about its latest mission.
The Proba-3 (Project for Onboard Autonomy) consists of a double-satellite in which two spacecraft would fly together as one, maintaining precise formation down to a single millimetre to study the sun's outer atmosphere.
The mission objective is to demonstrate precise formation flying and the two spacecraft - 'Coronagraph' and 'Occulter' would be launched together in a stacked configuration, Isro said.
The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency is employing its tried and tested Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for the mission.
The PSLV is on its 61st flight and the 26th of the XL variant. After traveling for around 18 minutes, it is scheduled to put the 550kg Proba-3 satellites into a desired orbit.
On attaining the initial orbit conditions, the two satellites would fly in tandem 150 meters apart as one single satellite structure to ensure that 'Occulter' spacecraft blocks the solar disk of the Sun, making way for Coronagraph to make an observation of corona of the Sun, or of the surrounding atmosphere.
"The corona, much hotter than the Sun itself, is where space weather originates and a topic of widespread scientific and practical interest", the European Space Agency said.
"The two satellites would fly together as a 'large rigid structure' in space to prove formation flying technologies and rendezvous experiments", the ESA added.
The satellites would reach High Earth Orbit 19.7 hours after a scheduled lift-off at 4.08 pm on Wednesday. Their apogee is of 60,530 km as farthest from earth while their perigee was at 600 km, that is the closest to the earth.
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