The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Proba-3's coronagraph is called ASPIICS, which stands for Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun. The instrument is made of a large 1.4m diameter occulting disk mounted on the Occulter spacecraft, and a solar coronagraph system carried by the Coronagraph spacecraft. When the two satellites are co-aligned with the Sun, approximately 150 metres apart during formation flying, the occulting disk will produce an artificial eclipse by blocking the blinding body of the Sun.