The launch date for the Proba-3 technology mission is approaching. The European Space Agency has confirmed the launch for December 4, 2024. The two satellites will be launched by an Indian PSLV-XL rocket from a military base near the city of Chennai. Astronomers will use this technology mission for long-term observations of solar eclipses. The Czech contribution, a key component, was led by solar physicists at the Ondřejov Observatory.

The two satellites in formation, observing the solar corona with high resolution. PHOTO – ESA/P. Carril

Proba-3 is a unique mission from the European Space Agency (ESA) that will utilize groundbreaking technologies for satellite flight in a very precise formation. This technology will enable the creation of a giant space coronagraph called ASPIICS. This coronagraph will be divided between the two Proba-3 satellites, with one satellite carrying a screen (a "artificial moon") and the other carrying a special telescope - the coronagraph. Thanks to a distance of nearly 150 meters and a mutual position controlled with millimeter precision, ASPIICS will be able to observe the solar corona under conditions close to a total solar eclipse. Moreover, while we can observe a total solar eclipse on Earth for a maximum of eight minutes, this system will provide six hours of observation. This will allow us to obtain scientific data from the lower corona, located just above the edge of the solar disk. This region is the least explored part of the solar atmosphere. However, it is also the location where coronal mass ejections are accelerated, or where the solar wind begins. A better understanding of the development of both of these phenomena, from their initial stages, is very important for continuously improving predictions of the impact of solar activity on Earth, known as space weather.

Preparations for the project began in 2008. The Czech contribution to this European Space Agency mission consists of the telescope's doors and optics. The telescope doors for the coronagraph, which protect the optics from contamination during launch and in orbit, were manufactured by the VZLU (Research and Testing Institute of Aviation) subsidiary, SERENUM. All optical components of the telescope were supplied by the TOPTEC center in Turnov, which is part of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The Czech participation is part of an international consortium led by Belgium (led by Dr. Andrej Zhukov from the Royal Observatory of Belgium). As one of the main collaborators within the international consortium, the Czech participation was led by RNDr. Stanislav Gunár, Ph.D. from the Solar Department of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Professor Petr Heinzel, also from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and Dr. František Fárník, also made significant contributions to the project from the very beginning. The Czech participation in the preparation of the Proba-3 mission was funded by the PRODEX program from the funds of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Transport.

[Image of PROBA3 satellite with laser-precise positioning] [Image of the complete PROBA3 system]

Institute of Astronomy of the Czech Academy of Sciences / gnews - RoZ

PHOTO – ESA