The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission, aboard Indian Space Research Organisation’s ( ISRO ) PSLV-C59 rocket, is all set to lift off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on Thursday. This mission marks a key milestone in ESA-ISRO cooperation, being the first such partnership since the Proba-1 Earth observation mission in 2001.
The mission meant for solar experiment was originally scheduled for launch on Wednesday, however, it was postponed due to an anomaly detected minutes before the launch. The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency had originally planned to launch the Proba-3 mission at 4.08 pm on Wednesday from the spaceport here.”As per the ESA’s request, the launch of PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 has been rescheduled as follows: Date: 05th December 2024 Time: 16:04″ (4.04 pm), the space agency announced on Wednesday. The revised launch was earlier fixed at 4.12 pm on Thursday.
According to ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, the anomaly occurred in the redundant propulsion system of the Coronagraph spacecraft which was onboard the PSLVC59 mission and currently the scientists were involved in identifying the cause of the incident. “During Proba3’s pre-launch preparations at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, an anomaly in the redundant propulsion system of the Coronagraph Spacecraft occurred. This propulsion system is part of the attitude and orbit control subsystem of the satellite and used to maintain orientation and pointing in space.”
As per the ESA's request, the launch of PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 has been rescheduled as follows:
Date: 05th December 2024
Time: 16:04 https://t.co/mhOtBbGuaa— ISRO (@isro) December 4, 2024
Aschbacher said in a social media post. “The anomaly is currently under detailed investigation. The use of a software solution by the mission control team at @ESA’s ESEC centre at Redu, Belgium is being evaluated to allow a launch on Thursday 5 December at 11:34 CET (10:34 GMT, 16:04 local time),” he further wrote.
The launch will be streamed live on ISRO’s YouTube channel and ESA’s Web TV. Dubbed as world’s first initiative of its kind, the Proba-3 (Project for Onboard Anatomy) consists of two satellites — Coronagraph (310kgs) and Occulter (240kgs) — in which two spacecraft would fly together as one, maintaining precise formation down to a single millimetre to study the Corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
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