5 December 2024 – On December 5, the European Space Agency (ESA) Proba-3 mission was successfully launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. The mission consists of two satellites, the Coronographer and the Occulter, which will fly at a distance of 150 meters. The main aim is to demonstrate the feasibility of advanced formation flying technologies by creating a virtual solid structure in space to carry out detailed observations of the solar corona. One of the satellites will block the Sun’s light, as in an eclipse, so that the other can study the solar corona more effectively. GMV is responsible for the Formation Flying Subsystem (FFS), the most innovative and critical component of the mission. This subsystem includes the design, implementation, and validation of the onboard software in a simulation environment that replicates the onboard computer and electrical interfaces. The FFS maintains the necessary precision and stability between the two satellites, allowing them to function as a virtual rigid structure with millimeter precision in position and arc-second precision in orientation. Read more