Proba-3 achieves precise formation flying

Proba-3 achieves precise formation flying

For the first time, two spacecraft in orbit were aligned in formation with millimeter precision and maintained their relative position for several hours without any control from the ground.

Europe’s inside-out space telescope demonstrates precise formation flight

New Delhi: The Proba-3 heliophysics observatory designed and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) has achieved the ambitious goal of precise formation flight at a distance of 150 metres apart. This is the first time that two spacecraft in Earth orbit have aligned to millimetre precision in formation flight. The Proba-3 mission consists of a pair of spacecraft, an Occulter to block out the disk of the Sun and a Coronagraph to observe the t…