ISRO Proba 3 mission launch live: Lift off at 4:08 pm today

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ISRO Proba 3 mission launch live: Dubbed as the world’s first initiative, the Proba-3 – Project for Onboard Autonomy – comrises 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.

ISRO’s PSLV-C59, showcasing will deliver European Space Agency’s Proba-3 satellites into orbit

ISRO Proba 3 mission launch live: The countdown for ISRO’s commercial mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), Proba-3 spacecraft, is ticking with the launch scheduled for 4:08 pm on Wednesday, December 5. The launch will be conducted from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), as NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO, manages the operation. …Read More

ISRO Proba-3 Launch | Key points

The 25-hour countdown for the launch of Proba-3, a key mission for ESA began yesterday at Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Sriharikota spaceport.
ISRO’s PSLV-XL rocket is scheduled to lift off at 4.08 pm on Wednesday, December 4, carrying the 550kg Proba-3 spacecraft.
Proba-3 will demonstrate the world’s first precision formation flying, with two spacecraft flying 150 meters apart.
The mission will study the Sun’s corona by blocking the solar disk, enabling precise observations of the Sun’s atmosphere.

ISRO would be facilitating the launch while European Space Agency scientists would take up study on the mission, post it reaching the desired orbital conditions.

Follow all the updates here:

ISRO Proba 3 launch live: ISRO makes history with European space agency’s ‘precision-flying’ mission

ISRO Proba 3 launch Live: The countdown is underway for ISRO’s commercial mission to launch the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 spacecraft, marking a significant milestone in India’s space journey. The launch is scheduled for later on Wednesday, the space agency announced.

ISRO Proba 3 mission launch live: What is the mission’s objective

The key objective of the mission is formation flying in precision and to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

The Proba-3 mission will create ‘solar eclipses on demand’ for detailed scientific study of the Sun’s corona.

How will Proba 3 create solar eclipses on demand:

The 44.5 metre tall rocket after travelling for about 18 minutes will place the 550kg Proba-3 satellites into a desired orbit.
After reaching the initial orbital conditions, the two satellites would fly 150 metres apart (as one large satellite structure) in tandem so that the ‘Occulter’ spacecraft would block out the solar disk of the sun enabling Coronagraph to study the corona of the Sun or the surrounding atmosphere, for scientific observation.
The corona-much hotter than the Sun itself, is where space weather originates and a topic of widespread scientific and practical interest, as per the ESA.
This pattern of (blocking the solar disk of the sun) formation occurs during solar eclipses and that too for a few minutes for scientists to study. However, the European Space Agency said with Proba-3, the mission would be able to create ‘solar eclipses on demand.’

ISRO Proba 3 mission launch live: ISRO says ‘proud milestone’ for India’s space journey

In a post on X, ISRO said, “PSLV-C59, showcasing the proven expertise of ISRO, is ready to deliver ESA’s PROBA-3 satellites into orbit. This mission, powered by NSIL with ISRO’s engineering excellence, reflects the strength of international collaboration. A proud milestone in India’s space journey and a shining example of global partnerships.”