Speaker
Description
PROBA-3 is an ESA mission designed to demonstrate high-precision formation flying using two spacecraft flying in close configuration to form a large-scale solar coronagraph. The industrial development of the mission is led by SENER Aerospace (Spain) for ESA, coordinating a consortium involving 14 ESA Member States and Canada. Key partners include Redwire Space (Belgium), in charge of the avionics, final assembly and spacecraft operations; CSL (Belgium), which developed the ASPIICS coronagraph; Spacebel (Belgium), which developed the on-board and ground segment software; GMV (Spain), responsible for the formation flying system and flight dynamics; and Airbus DS (Spain), responsible for the mechanical, thermal and propulsion platforms of both spacecraft. The two satellites were launched in stack aboard a PSLV-XL rocket from ISRO and are operated from ESEC in Redu, Belgium.
This presentation provides an overview of the thermal control systems verification campaign, including the thermal tests, the model correlation activities, final flight thermal predictions and final hardware adjustments. It also presents the result from the LEOP and IOC with a focus on the correlation between the predicted and actual thermal performance. The unique thermal challenges associated with the mission’s highly flying elliptical orbit and precision formation flying are discussed, along with the lessons learned throughout the development, testing and early operations of the mission.
