Proba 3

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General

Designation
Launch date	initially planned in 2017
Country of origin	Europe
Mission
Perigee/Apogee	600/60000 km
Inclination
Period
Launch vehicle

The new mission includes two satellites with masses of approximately 340 kg and 200 kg, respectively.

Will demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimetre precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of metres apart. Rendezvous tests, orbital approach manoeuvres between spacecraft in highly elliptical orbit, will also be performed

Will also serve to validate several optical and laser sensors in addition to the algorithms required for future formation flight missions.

The shadow cast from one Proba-3 satellite to the other will give a sustained view of close-up regions of the solar corona. Usually, these segments are visible only for brief moments during terrestrial solar eclipses.

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