ISRO To Launch Euro Satellite Proba-3 On Dec 4

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday announced that it will launch the European Space Agency (ESA) Proba-3 to observe the Sun with great precision on December 4.

Proba-3, which aims to study the Sun’s faint corona closer to the solar rim, will be launched on the PSLV-XL rocket -- operated by the ISRO -- at 4.08 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

“The PSLV-C59/PROBA-03 Mission is set to take flight on 4th December 2024, 16:08 IST from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota!” ISRO shared in a post on X.

The PSLV-XL rocket will carry two satellites that will work together to create a 144-metre-long instrument known as a solar coronagraph. This will help scientists to study the Sun's corona which is difficult to observe due to the brightness of the solar disk.

The twin satellites will be carried into a highly elliptical orbit, allowing the pair to reach 60,000 km from Earth and descend as close as 600 km during each orbit.