Space Science

Proba-3 artificial
eclipse concept,
in which one
spacecraft occults
the Sun for the
other spacecraft,
revealing the inner
corona as never
before.

Engineering
six-hour solar
eclipses with
formation flying
ESA

Proba-3 is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) precise formation flying

space mission in which two satellites will fly together as a 150 m long ‘large
virtually rigid structure’ while maintaining millimetre and arc second relative
precision. This will be achieved autonomously without relying on support
from the ground. In effect the paired satellites will be flying as a giant virtual
satellite carrying a scientific instrument that will be able to study the Sun’s
faint corona closer to the surface than has ever been achieved before.
Luis F Peñin
Proba-3 System

I
Manager, SENER n recent years Europe has made
Aerospace, Madrid, significant progress in the field of
Spain multi-satellite missions. ESA’s Automated
Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has demonstrated
centimetre-scale accuracy when docking with
the International Space Station (ISS), while
Sweden’s Prisma mission has demonstrated
formation flying for brief periods, maintaining
centimetre-level accuracy across tens of metres.
Proba-3 marks the next step in formation
flying. Its two satellites will maintain formation to
millimetre and arc-second precision at distances
of up to 250 m for several hours. The satellites
Damien Galano will form a so-called ‘externally occulted’
Proba-3 System coronagraph, with the satellite imager shielded
Manager, ESA/ from glaring sunlight by an occulting disk on the
ESTEC, Noordwijk, other satellite, forming an artificial eclipse. This
The Netherlands will be achieved autonomously, without relying
on the ground for active control of the formation.
In addition, Proba-3 aims to showcase
formation flying technologies enabling other
future science missions. It will demonstrate the
capability to keep two spacecraft precisely in
station-keeping at different relative distances
(from 25 m up to 250 m); the execution of precise
formation resizing manoeuvres; approaching and
separating in precise formation without losing
millimetre precision; the capability to repoint
the formation as a virtual rigid body 30 degrees
away from the Sun and the combination of station
keeping, resizing and re-targeting manoeuvres.
Proba-3 includes, as an additional secondary
science payload, an absolute solar radiometer
(DARA) to measure the total solar irradiance
coming from the Sun. Additionally, an experiment
will be carried out at the end of the mission

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 Space Science

PROBA-3 POINTING AND limitation of natural solar eclipses visible from the
POSITIONING REQUIREMENTS ground is that they occur every 18 months or so,
and only during a short period of time.
REQUIREMENT VALUE
As an alternative, space-flown ‘coronagraphs’
pointing 7.1 arc-sec use an inner occulting disk to create artificial
ABSOLUTE
ATTITUDE Pointing eclipses for a long period of time. However, due
2.6 arc-sec
stability (10s) to their concept and sizing, they do not allow
observation of the very close corona.
@ 40 m distance 2.2 mm
These limitations can be overcome by
RELATIVE @ 150 m distance 4.9 mm extending the coronagraph length, increasing Karim Mellab
DISPLACEMENT
@ 250 m distance 8.1 mm the distance between the camera and the disk, Proba-3 Project
ERROR while still preserving eclipse-like conditions. A Manager, ESA/
Relative
velocity error
0.15 mm/s few tens of metres long satellite is not a practical ESTEC, Noordwijk,
solution and this is where precise formation The Netherlands
flying technology comes into play. By placing
to demonstrate un-cooperative vision-based an occulter disk on one satellite far away it will
rendezvous strategies in highly elliptical orbits. cast a shadow across the second satellite, thus
producing a nearly ideal eclipse and opening up
Enabling new science capabilities an unimpeded view of the inner solar corona.
The Sun’s corona is a focus of scientific interest, Proba-3 has been designed such that the
in particular the inner corona below 2.5 solar occulter disk is 150 m from the coronograph
radius where the solar wind is accelerated and instrument. Millimetre scale positioning
coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are initiated. But between them is able to provide observations
this part of the solar corona is difficult to observe of the corona from 1.1 solar radius to three
with sufficient spatial resolution and sensitivity solar radius in natural and polarised white- Victor Marco Gomez
to fully understand these phenomena. light [from the range of 540 nanometres (nm) Proba-3 Project
As the Sun is a million times brighter than its to 570 nm for the wavelength] and in two Manager, SENER
surrounding corona in visible light, the only way to narrow-band emissions lines (Fe XIV line Aerospace, Madrid,
observe the corona is during a solar eclipse. The 530.4 nm and He I line 587.7 nm). The corona Spain

Agnes Mestreau-
Garreau
Head of the Systems
Engineering Division,
ESA/ESTEC,
Noordwijk, The
Netherlands

Proba-3 includes two

spacecraft flying in
precise formation up to
250 m distance.

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 Space Science

ESA
Highly Elliptical Orbit of will be imaged for about six hours in every 20 Mission profile and spacecraft
Proba-3, with the hours, at a typical cadence of one image per The coronagraphy and formation flying
spacecraft performing minute, with the possibility to increase this demonstration should extend over several hours;
precise formation
cadence to an image every two seconds during a feat that cannot be achieved in low Earth
manoeuvres for six hours
around apogee. phenomena of special interest. orbit as the gravity gradient would require too
The coronagraph instrument on Proba-3 high a thrust and large propellant quantities
Above right: Proba-3 will is called ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft to maintain formation. Accordingly, the two
provide insight on the for Polarimetry and Imaging Investigation spacecraft in stack configuration will be directly
inner corona where solar
of the Corona of the Sun) and is developed injected into a highly elliptic orbit (HEO). The
wind and CMEs originate.
by a consortium of European institutes and resulting orbit will have a perigee of 600 km, an
industries. apogee of 60,500 km and an inclination of 59
The unprecedented field of view makes it degrees.
uniquely suited for studies of the solar corona. After separation from the launcher, de-tumbling
It aims at filling the crucial observational gap and Sun-acquisition, the solar panel will be
between the fields of view of solar extreme deployed and commissioning performed. Only
ultraviolet imagers and conventional space afterwards will the two satellites be separated,
Since the Sun coronagraphs, and to understand the physical with a well-controlled relative velocity that allows
is a million processes that govern the quiescent solar safe drift for several orbits without the risk of
corona and the eruptive solar corona. the saetllites running away from each other.
times brighter
than its List of different manoeuvres and activity performed by satellites during one orbit.
surrounding EVENT TRUE ANOMALY ACTIVITY SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE
corona, the 1 0º Perigee pass Sun pointing
only way to 2 161º CSC rolls 180º Sun pointing
observe the 3 163º Start formation acquisition
The two spacecraft point towards each other
corona is Maximum Sun off-point of 30º is considered.

during a solar 4 169º Start Apogee Activity Attitude depends on apogee activity.

eclipse 5 180º Apogee

For retargeting operations, a maximum Sun off-
pointing of 30º is foreseen.
The two spacecraft point towards each other.
6 190º Finish Apogee Activity
Maximum sun off-point of 30º is considered.
7 196º Finish Perigee pass preparation Sun pointing
8 198º CSC rolls 180º Sun pointing
1 360º Perigee pass Sun pointing

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Then the drift will be stopped and a safe orbit
configuration achieved. Commissioning of
equipment, formation flying metrology and on-
board software will be completed at this stage.
Precise formation will then be acquired,
starting the operational phase, in which
the spacecraft perform station keeping for
coronagraphic observations or formation
demonstration manoeuvres every orbit along
the apogee arc. All this will be performed
completely autonomously, only requiring the
regular upload of the list of formation operations
to be performed sequentially at apogee for the
following seven orbits.
Rigid formation cannot be kept during the
perigee passage since the relative dynamic
perturbations are very high. Therefore, the
concept is to break the rigid formation (event 7) so
that during the perigee passage the two spacecraft
fly uncontrolled (but along a relative inherently
safe orbit), pointing to the Sun, and acquiring
again the formation before the next apogee
phase (event 3). The breaking and acquisition of
the formation is achieved by performing a set
of impulsive manoeuvres called Direct Transfer
Manoeuvres (DTM). There is a DTM-1 to prepare
the perigee pass and a DTM-2 to re-acquire coarse
formation at the end of the perigee pass.
When DTM-2 has finished, the system is ready
to acquire the fine formation. For this, certain
manoeuvres known as acquisition manoeuvres
are required from event 3 to event 4. During
these manoeuvres, the two satellites would off-
point from the Sun to point to each other. Finally,
during the apogee phase (from event 4 to event 6)
the formation flying demonstration manoeuvres
and Sun corona observation are performed for a
total of six hours in rigid formation configuration.
During the mission, in case of anomaly, the
Space Science
satellites might need to be placed into a safe
relative orbit, where passive safety is ensured
for at least one month, with no need of orbital
maintenance. The two spacecraft will be free
flying, almost in the same orbit, but with a small
difference in orbital parameters that avoids
potential collisions while keeping the spacecraft
near each other.
Spacecraft
Proba-3 space segment consists of the
Coronagraph Spacecraft (CSC) which houses the
coronagraph instrument and the corresponding
Occulter Spacecraft (OSC) which includes the
occulting disk.
OSC wet mass is about 250 kg, with a size of
about 1.4 m x 1.1 m x 1.2 m. The OSC structure
is essentially a cube with all the avionics and
instrument equipment mounted on the inner
panels, and with the occulter disc on the anti-Sun
face. The OSC is responsible for performing the
high accuracy actuation formation control using
cold gas milli-Newton thrusters.
The CSC is designed to point its coronagraph
instrument towards the Sun on a continuous
basis. CSC wet mass is about 300 kg with a size
of about 1 m x 1.5 m x 1.2 m. The solar panel
layout is designed to be, when deployed, outside
the penumbra created by the other satellite in
coronagraph operations. During launch, the
deployable solar panel is stowed against the
rigid support structure.The CSC is responsible
for performing the main orbital maintenance
manoeuvres with monopropellant thrusters.
The two satellites have been conceived
with maximum commonality in design and
configurations. Power generation is based on Li-
Ion batteries, un-regulated 28 V bus and triple-
junction GaAs solar cells. Each spacecraft is
External view of the
Occulter spacecraft (OSC)
on the right, and of the
Coronagraph Spacecraft
(CSC) on the left.
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 Space Science
equipped with the same on-board computer and
power conditioning, which is the workhorse of all
previous Proba spacecraft.
Both spacecraft include an Optical Bench
Assembly (OBA) designed for high thermal
stability. The benches have dedicated thermal
control with heater lines in order to minimise
the gradients along the bench. Each spacecraft is
three-axis stabilised using a set of four reaction
wheels. A set of three star trackers are used for
attitude determination. Conventional Sun sensors
and gyros are used for safe modes.
Formation flying technologies
A broad range of novel technologies are
embarked on Proba-3, including metrology
equipment, control logic, software and operation
management. The Formation Flying System (FFS)
includes components in both satellites, with a
Formation Flying Management system, embedded
within the OSC, being in charge of commanding
and executing formation flying activities.
Proba-3 highest accuracy metrology is the Fine
Lateral and Longitudinal Sensor (FLLS), located
on the OSC and based on laser technology. It
provides the performances to achieve the high
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accuracy pointing and positioning requirements.
The main functionality of the FLLS is to
determine the position of the apex of the Corner
Cube Retro-Reflector (CCRR) located on the CSC
in both the longitudinal and lateral directions.
Additionally, a vision-based system that
complements the Proba-3 metrology is
distributed between both spacecraft to provide
coarse relative position information. It is
composed of a Wide Angle Camera (WAC) used
in a first step to acquire the formation due to
its larger field-of-view and of a Narrow Angle
Camera ((NAC) used for a higher accuracy.
The vision system makes use of a set of mires
(illuminated targets) based on LED technology,
forming a light pattern on the CSC.
Communication between the satellites to
During one orbit the coordinate manoeuvres is performed through an
formation is broken and innovative Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) system, based
rebuilt to perform precise on S-band RF technology. It allows data packets
formation flying during
exchange between the two satellites, generation
apogee.
of inter-satellite range estimates and correlation
of satellites clocks.
This is no Both spacecraft are equipped with GNSS
capabilities for providing absolute positioning
normal information. Additionally, during formation
eclipse, as flying, a relative GNSS algorithm processes on a
the satellites single spacecraft (OSC) the GNSS measurements
obtained by both spacecraft from the same set of
will block out GNSS spacecraft vehicles. It provides a navigation
the solar disc solution in coarse mode based on pseudo-range
for up to six measurements, and in fine mode using carrier
phase measurements. As the Proba-3 orbit goes
hours at a beyond the GNSS constellation coverage, the
time, giving units are only used during part of the orbit,
researchers around the perigee.
a prolonged Development and future applications
view of The Proba programme was established at
the Sun’s ESA in the mid-1990s (within the Technology,
Engineering and Quality Directorate) with the
immediate aim of developing small satellites dedicated to
vicinity technology demonstrations. Up to now, three

Proba missions have been successfully launched
and operated, starting with Proba-1 in 2001,
Proba-2 in 2009 and Proba V in 2013. Proba-3
mission is also supported by ESA’s Science
Programme as an opportunity mission.
Proba-3 is being developed by a large
consortium of 36 companies with a core team of
five that includes SENER with QinetiQ Space nv,
Airbus Defence and Space Spain, GMV Space and
Defence and Spacebel. The payload industrial
consortium is led by CSL (Centre Spatial de
Liége).
As seen previously, Proba-3 space segment is
driven by the formation flying technology needs.
On the other hand, the ground segment is built
upon the heritage from previous Proba missions,
with high degree of reuse of processes, methods
and modules. The Mission Operation Centre is
located at Redu (Belgium) and the ground station
antenna is located at Santa-Maria in Azores
(Portugal).
Being a very advanced In-orbit Technology
Demonstration mission with a limited budget and
tight schedule, the Proba-3 project development
is based on a close interaction between the ESA
project and industry teams, reducing the formal
review effort, performing quick turnaround
decision making and a pragmatic application of
requirements and standards.
This efficient approach bodes well for another
of the mission objectives of Proba-3, which is to
open up the space industry for smaller member
states and small and medium-sized businesses,
that despite having the know-how, struggle to
make a foothold in the market.
Current scientific and application challenges
call for the detection of ever fainter signals and
smaller features. To achieve this, larger apertures,
longer focal lengths and baselines that are
beyond what can be accomplished with a single
spacecraft will be required.
The solution is precise formation flying and
Space Science
ESA’s Proba-3 will demonstrate its feasibility
and benefits. Not only that, but the Proba-3
Proba-3 aims mission will exemplify how novel space mission
to showcase architectures can be used to achieve relevant
formation scientific goals with small satellites and within a
tight programmatic context.
flying
technologies About the authors
enabling other
future science Luis F Peñin gained a PhD in Robotics and worked as a Research Fellow
at JAXA on several tele-operation experiments of ETS-VII satellite
missions robot arm. He co-founded DEIMOS Space SL in 2001, participating in
the development of various advanced flight systems, such as IXV, and
becoming Head of Flight Engineering in 2010. He also worked for ESA
on the development and operation of the Europe’s Galileo System and
is now System Manager of Proba-3 for SENER.
Damien Galano is Proba-3 System Manager for ESA. He was in charge of
the Proba-3 ASPIICS instrument development during its detailed design
phase and worked on the Proba-V project. Damien earned his Master’s
Degree in aerospace engineering in 2001 and held various positions with
ESA and industry in engineering and project management functions.
Karim Mellab started his career in 1994 at Verhaert Design and
Development in Belgium, now QinetiQ Space, he has been involved
in the Proba projects from the very beginning as project manager for
Proba-1 since 1997. In 2000, he joined ESA at ESTEC working for the
Columbus, Node 2 and Node 3 modules of the ISS up to 2008 when he
was nominated Proba-V Project Manager. In 2018, he became the Head
of the Projects Office in the Technology, Engineering and Quality
Directorate and the Proba-3 Project Manager for ESA.
Victor Marco was an associate professor in the Aerospace Engineering
Department, Polytechnic University of Madrid. He worked for SENER
from 2003 before relocating to Airbus D&S Ottobrunn to work in the
Galileo IOV Space Segment. In 2008 he was Project Manager of the GNC
Subsystem of the ESA’s IXV re-entry vehicle demonstrator. In February
2015, he was appointed System Manager of the Proba-3 Mission and in
February 2016 he became SENER Proba-3 Programme Manager.
Agnes Mestreau-Garreau joined ESA/ESTEC in 1992 and was involved
in the development of the ENVISAT optical instruments. In 1994,
she continued her professional experience in industry at SODERN
Set of technologies (Ariane Group) where she worked as optical engineer, head of optical
enabling precise section and finally as project manager of equipment. In 2004, she
formation flying (from left returned to ESA-ESTEC as team leader of assessment studies of future
instruments and missions in the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF)
to right): laser
team. In 2009, she became the ESA Project Manager of the formation
technology, RF inter-
satellite link, vision based
flying Proba-3 mission and in 2018 was nominated Head of the
Systems Engineering Division.
navigation and relative
GPS navigation.
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