India's PSLV-XL rocket successfully launched the Proba-3 mission, showcasing advanced satellite formation flying techniques crucial for future space observatory missions.
The mission’s payloads, the Coronagraph and Occulter spacecraft, aim to maintain precise relative positions, enabling detailed observations of the solar corona.
The ESA indicated their optimism, stating, 'After a short preparatory period the two satellites will be separated and injected into a safe relative tandem orbit.'
Successful formation flying has vast implications for future missions, including enhanced Earth observation capabilities and the potential for creating 'virtual satellites'.
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