• ISRO is set to launch ESA's Proba-3 mission on December 4, marking a milestone in India-Europe space collaboration.
• The PSLV-XL rocket will carry two satellites to create a solar coronagraph for studying the Sun's corona.
• The satellites will perform formation flying in a highly elliptical orbit, demonstrating precision formation flying and rendezvous technologies.
• The mission's focus on studying the Sun's corona is relevant to understanding global warming and its effects on Earth's climate.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced a significant development in space exploration. The launch of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 mission is scheduled for December 4. This mission aims to observe the Sun with unprecedented precision. The launch marks a milestone in the deepening space collaboration between India and Europe. It's noteworthy that Proba-3 is the first mission to launch from India since the Proba-1 mission in 2001.

The Proba-3 mission will be launched on the PSLV-XL rocket, operated by ISRO, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The launch is set to take place at 4.08 pm IST. The PSLV-XL rocket will carry two satellites that will work in tandem to create a 144-metre-long instrument known as a solar coronagraph. This instrument will enable scientists to study the Sun's corona, which is challenging to observe due to the brightness of the solar disk.

The twin satellites will be carried into a highly elliptical orbit, allowing them to reach 60,000 km from Earth and descend as close as 600 km during each orbit. This high-altitude orbit will enable the satellites to perform formation flying for about six hours at peak altitude. Here, Earth's gravitational influence is reduced, lowering propellant consumption and allowing for optimal positioning control.

A New Era in Space Collaboration

The ESA has described this mission as the 'world's first precision formation flying mission.' It will enable scientists to study the Sun's elusive corona with unprecedented proximity and detail. The two satellites will fly together, maintaining a fixed configuration as if they were a single large rigid structure in space. This will prove formation flying and rendezvous technologies.

The Proba-3 satellites were flown to the Chennai airport from Liege in Belgium. They were then transported to the spaceport at Sriharikota. The ESA teams, present at the Indian spaceport, will now prepare the satellite for its launch in collaboration with ISRO scientists.

In the broader context of space exploration, the Proba-3 mission is a testament to the rapid advancements in in-space propulsion technologies. The market for new propulsion products continues to evolve dynamically, with systems and components with past flight heritage being reconsidered to meet the needs of smaller spacecraft. This approach minimizes new product development risk and time to market by creating devices similar to those with existing spaceflight heritage.

Implications for Climate Change Studies

In the context of global warming, the Proba-3 mission's focus on studying the Sun's corona is particularly relevant. Over the past century, humanity has started to influence Earth's climate significantly. Global warming, primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels, has resulted in an unusually rapid increase in Earth's average surface temperature. The impact of global warming is far greater than just increasing temperatures. It modifies rainfall patterns, amplifies coastal erosion, lengthens the growing season in some regions, melts ice caps and glaciers, and alters the ranges of some infectious diseases. Some of these changes are already occurring.