ISRO puts Proba 3 into orbit - Mission captured from Triplicane

A great day for INDIA – ISRO makes the Nation proud with yet another achievement ! 

I stepped out of my home around 4.05pm – causally looked to the sky –at first sight thought it to be contrail of a Jet aircraft.  The trajectory was rather different, the trail was thick – then as I tried clicking couple of photos (by that time realized it to be a launch vehicle of ISRO) – it emitted a fire ball, perhaps it ejected one of its stages – for a millisecond or so, nothing was in sight, then could see the spacecraft, flame and its follow-through – what a sight !!!

 

Nation is ecstatic about the successful launch of Proba 3.  PSLV-C59 vehicle carried Proba-3 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit as a Dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) on December 05, 2024 at 16:04 Hrs.  The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C59) in a picture-perfect launch began its journey to space a day after the launch was postponed.

 

SRO'S commercial space mission for the European Space Agency (ESA), the Proba-3 spacecraft was launched today at 4:04 pm, in a showcase of India's role in global space innovation and collaboration. The 550-kg Proba 3 mission will be conducted from the spaceport at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh and will be managed by ISRO's commercial arm, NewSpace India Ltd. The mission was initially supposed to be launched on December 4, at 4:08 pm but was re-scheduled minutes before lift-off by the ESA after an anomaly was detected in the satellite propulsion system.

 

The Proba (Project for Onboard Anatomy) is  named after the latin word which means “let's try”. It will be the first space initiative to demonstrate flying in a precise formation down to a single millimetre to study the Sun's outer atmosphere - the Corona.

- Proba 3 consists  of two satellites - Coronagraph (310kgs) and Occulter (240kgs), which   fly together as one, 150 metres apart from each other.

- The mission will provide key insights on the Corona, which according to the ESA, is hotter than the Sun and determines space weather as well.

- The instruments on both the satellites will take close to six hours at a time to reach the solar rim and will commence a 19-hour orbit around the Earth.

- The 44.5 metre tall rocket is supposed to take 18 minutes to reach its desired orbit. 

The launch of Proba-3, a collaboration between ISRO and the ESA will open up new doors for space and solar exploration. The shadow cast by the Occulter satellite allows the Coronagraph to observe solar phenomena while blocking out the light from the Sun itself, which is it has been dubbed an “artificial eclipse” maker. "For six hours at a time, it will be able to see the Sun's faint atmosphere, the corona, in the hard-to-observe region between the Sun's edge and 1.4 million kilometres from its surface," the ESA stated. The project will help scientists answer important queries, including why the corona is so much hotter than the Sun itself, and how the Sun's energy output changes over time.  

ISRO chairman S Somnath addressed the members of the PSLV and Proba teams from India and the European Space Agency after Proba-3 successfully achieved orbit. He said, “The PSLV-C59 Proba-3 launch has been accomplished. The spacecraft has been placed in the right orbit, a highly elliptical orbit of around 600 km at perigee (closest point to earth) and 60,000 km apogee (the farthest point from earth).”He also congratulated the PSLV and Proba teams and wished them luck on achieving their mission goals. 

Proba-3 was successfully launched at 4:04 pm today, with the spacecraft on track after its ignition was confirmed as well as healthy operation by the control rooms tracking the flight status. The spacecraft has separated its payload and has managed to maintain its course. 

ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965 and experience gained was of immense value in the mastering of solid propellant technology. In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were consolidated under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.  The PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 mission, initially scheduled for launch at 16.08 IST on December 4, 2024, has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 16.12 IST due to an anomaly detected. 

The photos below are the ones taken by me with a Nikon d7500 – 70-300mm lens from Triplicane – rest are taken from X page of ISRO. Well done Scientists of ISRO – well done mother India.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
5.12.2024

Read the 2nd para again to appreciate the photographs better !!