A satellite that generates artificial solar eclipses in space has reconnected with its handlers after a month of silence.
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today (March 19) that it has returned to contact with the Coronagraph spacecraft, one of the two satellites that make up its Proba-3 mission. Coronagraph had been silent since mid-Februarywhen an anomaly knocked it offline.
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Coronagraph and its partner satellite, Occulter, were launched into Earth orbit together from India in December 2024.
The two work together to generate solar eclipses. As the name suggests, Occulter blocks out the solar diskso that the Coronagraph can study the Sun’s tenuous outer atmosphere, or coronawhich is usually drowned out by our star’s overwhelming brightness.
This work requires incredibly precise formation flying: The two satellites cruise through space approx. 500 feet (150 meters) apart, maintaining their positions with an accuracy of 1 millimeter. If either Occulter or Coronagraph goes down, the mission is effectively over.
So last month’s events were bad news for the Proba-3 team. The coronagraph anomaly “triggered a chain reaction that led to a gradual loss of attitude (the spacecraft’s orientation) and prevented its expected entry into safe mode,” ESA officials said in a statement on March 6.
But things are better now, as today’s update noted. ESA’s ground station in Villafranca, Spain, received a package of data from Coronagraph, which provided information on the satellite’s voltage and temperature, among other things.
The satellite is stable and in a protective “safe mode” at the moment. But it’s not out of the woods; the mission team is conducting health checks to determine if it has sustained any damage, ESA officials said in today’s update.
“The spacecraft’s solar panel is turned the sunpowering the essential electronics on board, charging the battery with the remaining power,” they said. “After a month of floating in space and exposed to extreme cold, onboard systems need time to warm up before any major actions are taken. “
