ISRO’S commercial space mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), the Proba-3 spacecraft was launched on Thursday at 4:04 pm, in a showcase of India’s role in global space innovation and collaboration. The 550-kg Proba 3 mission will be conducted from the spaceport at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh and will be managed by ISRO’s commercial arm, NewSpace India Ltd.
The mission was initially supposed to be launched on December 4, at 4:08 pm but was re-scheduled minutes before lift-off by the ESA after an anomaly was detected in the satellite propulsion system. The Proba (Project for Onboard Anatomy) is also named after the latin word which means “let’s try”. It will be the first space initiative to demonstrate flying in a precise formation down to a single millimetre to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the Corona.
PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 Mission Update:
The launch has been rescheduled. Set your clocks as we prepare to make history:
Date: 5th December 2024
Time: 16:04 IST
Countdown updates and mission milestones will keep you connected as we approach T-minus zero. Stay tuned for this momentous…
— ISRO (@isro) December 4, 2024
The Proba -3 rocket has successfully completed three stages of it’s launch and entered a coasting stage. During the fourth stage, the rocket is being steered and will reach orbit. Officials from the tracking room have confirmed that all operations are normal and even referred to the flight as a “textbook launch”.
The PSLVC-59 will have four stages of launch, according to ISRO. The total mass which the launch vehicle will be lifting off is around 320 tonnes. The launch was originally scheduled for December 4 at 4:08 PM from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. “Due to an anomaly detected in PROBA-3 spacecraft PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 launch has been rescheduled to tomorrow at 16:12 hours,” ISRO announced in a post on X.
Due to an anomaly detected in PROBA-3 spacecraft PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 launch rescheduled to tomorrow at 16:12 hours.
— ISRO (@isro) December 4, 2024
Proba-3 is a technology demonstration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Proba-3 is ESA’s and the world’s first precision formation-flying mission. A pair of satellites will fly together, maintaining a fixed configuration as if they were a single large rigid structure in space, to prove innovative formation flying and rendezvous technologies.
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