Mission type: Biology | Communications | Dedicated Rideshare | Earth Science | Government/Top Secret | Human Exploration | Lunar Exploration | Mission Extension | Navigation | Planetary Science | Resupply | Robotic Exploration | Space Situational Awareness | Technology | Test Flight | Tourism | Unknown
Vehicle: 🗙 Ariane 62 | Atlas V 551 | Ceres-1 | Electron | Epsilon S | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Firefly Alpha | Gaganyaan Abort Test Booster | GSLV Mk. II | H-IIA 202 | H3-22 | Kii-based Advanced & Instant ROcket System | Kinetica 1 | Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (GSLV Mk III) | Long March 2C | Long March 3B/E | Long March 4C | Long March 7 | Minotaur IV | New Glenn | PSLV | PSLV XL | RS1 | Soyuz 2.1a | Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M | Soyuz 2.1b | Soyuz 2.1b Fregat | Soyuz 2.1b Fregat-M | Spectrum | SSLV | Starship | Terran 1 | Vega-C | Vulcan | Vulcan VC4S | Vulcan VC6L
Orbit: Asteroid | Elliptical Orbit | Geostationary Transfer Orbit | Geosynchronous Orbit | Heliocentric N/A | Low Earth Orbit | Lunar Orbit | Medium Earth Orbit | Polar Orbit | Suborbital | Sun-Synchronous Orbit | Unknown
Proba-3 (Project for On-Board Autonomy 3) is the first close formation flying mission for the European Space Agency (ESA). It consists of two independent, three-axis stabilised spacecraft flying 150 meters from one another with the ability to accurately control the attitude and separation of the two craft. Such formation flying will be maintained for 6 hours, creating ″artificial solar eclipse″ for the satellite below.
The spacecraft pair will fly a highly elliptical orbit divided between periods of accurate formation flying around apogee, when payload operations will be possible, and periods of free flight.