• ISRO successfully launched ESA's Proba-3 Sun observation mission, marking the first ESA mission launched from India since 2001.
• The mission, powered by NSIL with ISRO's engineering, aims to study the Sun's faint corona and demonstrate precise formation flying.
• The mission consists of two spacecraft, the CSC and OSC, launched together aboard the PSLV-XL rocket.
• The successful launch of the Proba-3 mission underscores the strength of international collaboration and India's growing contributions to global space exploration.

In a significant stride in space exploration, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 Sun observation mission into space. The mission was launched atop the PSLV-C59 vehicle from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota. This mission marks the first ESA mission to be launched from India since the Proba-1 mission in 2001, highlighting the deepening space collaboration between the two entities.

The PSLV-C59 vehicle carried the Proba-3 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit as a dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL). The Proba-3 mission aims to study the Sun's faint corona closer to the solar rim. It is an in-orbit demonstration (IOD) mission of the ESA, which aims to demonstrate precise formation flying.

ISRO's Engineering Excellence and International Collaboration

The mission is powered by NSIL with ISRO's engineering excellence, reflecting the strength of international collaboration. The Proba-3 satellites were flown to the Chennai airport from Liege in Belgium, following which they were trucked to the spaceport at Sriharikota. The mission consists of two spacecraft -- the Coronagraph Spacecraft (CSC) and the Occulter Spacecraft (OSC) -- and were launched together in a stacked configuration aboard the PSLV-XL rocket.

The spacecraft will create a 144-metre-long instrument known as a solar coronagraph, enabling scientists to study the Sun's corona which is difficult to observe due to the brightness of the solar disk. The PSLV-C59 stands as a testament to ISRO's engineering prowess, with this mission being the 61st flight demonstrating the popularity of the PSLV-XL variant.

Mission Readiness and Future Prospects

The launch was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to an anomaly detected in the PROBA-3 spacecraft. The countdown for the launch progressed smoothly, and the mission was successfully launched on Thursday. The Occulter spacecraft weighs around 240 kg, while the Coronagraph weighs about 310 kg. The satellites will follow an orbital period of 19.7 hours, reaching an apogee (farthest point) of 60,530 km and a perigee (closest point) of 600 km from Earth.

The configuration movement will provide continuous views of the Sun's faint corona -- surrounding atmosphere -- for scientific observation. Notably, NSIL is India's first commercial satellite service provider which has its own fleet of 11 state of the art communication satellites. The recent test confirmed its operational capabilities, as the satellites responded to commands and transmitted images back, simulating their intended in-orbit performance.