The satellites were carried into space by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The goal of this endeavor is to establish the continuous operation of two spacecraft in Earth’s orbit.
"The satellites will maintain a constant distance of 150 meters from each other (with an accuracy of a few millimeters), along a line running through the center of the Sun's disk. At the closest point, the orbiters will be 600 km from the Earth's surface, and at the furthest point, 60,000 km," explained heliophysicist Dr. Marek Stęślicki from the Solar Physics Department of the Space Research Centre PAS (CBK PAS), a member of the Science Operations Centre for the Proba-3 mission, in a comment for the Polish state news agency PAP.
New mission to study solar corona by simulating artificial eclipses
The mission, which began on December 5, 2024, aims to study the solar corona by simulating up to 50 artificial solar eclipses per year, each lasting about 6 hours during a full orbit.
The formation consists of two satellites: a coronagraph (a telescope for observing the solar corona) and an occulter, which blocks the Sun's disk, enabling the study of hard-to-reach areas of the Sun, such as coronal mass ejections and solar wind.
Scientists hope that data on the solar corona will help them better understand phenomena like solar storms, which affect satellites and communication, as well as uncover why the corona is much hotter than the Sun's surface.
Proba-3 mission launched to study solar corona with help from Polish scientists
The Proba-3 mission of the European Space Agency involved 40 companies and institutions from 14 countries, including seven from Poland. Experts from Poland made a significant contribution to the project, collaborating on the construction of the coronagraph and the development of scientific software.
Source: Radio Poland/PAP/ESA/X/@esaoperations
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