Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
At 4:04 PM, ISRO's PSLV rocket achieved its 61st mission, launching two satellites weighing 545 kg into orbit. The 44.5-meter-tall rocket lifted off from Sriharikota, deploying the satellites with precision at an altitude of 600 km about 18 minutes after launch.
Credit : ISRO
The satellites, part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission, aim to demonstrate precision formation flying in space. The mission will simulate a solar eclipse to study the Sun's corona, the outermost and hottest layer of its atmosphere.
Credit : ISRO
This launch marks the second ESA satellite launched aboard an Indian rocket. The first, Proba-1 in 2001, outlived its one-year mission by over two decades, credited partly to the precise deployment by ISRO's PSLV.
The PSLV-C59 mission was a dedicated commercial launch by New Space India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm. This was the 12th fully commercial PSLV mission, with more such collaborations anticipated.
The Proba-3 mission involves two spacecraft, the Coronagraph Spacecraft (CSC) and the Occulter Spacecraft (OSC), flying in precise unison. The CSC casts a shadow on the OSC to simulate a solar eclipse, creating a six-hour observation window for studying the Sun's corona.
Initially scheduled for December 4, the launch was postponed by 24 hours due to an anomaly in one of the satellites. ESA resolved the issue, allowing for an on-time and flawless lift-off the next day.
The Proba-3 mission, developed at a cost of 200 million euros, aims to advance technologies for formation flying and long-term solar corona observation. This could improve understanding of solar storms and their effects on Earth.
With this mission, ISRO continues its legacy of precision launches, enhancing its reputation in the global space industry. Additionally, India's Aditya-L1 mission, launched in 2023, complements such studies by continuously mimicking solar eclipses using its onboard coronagraph.