A first in space autonomy

The European Space Agency (ESA) has achieved a historic milestone, autonomous formation flying with millimetre-level precision.

“Proba-3 proves that bold in-orbit experimentation is essential to turning breakthrough ideas into real space capabilities. ESA does not just design innovation, it flies it,” explains Ian Carnelli, ESA Head of Systems Department.

With Proba-3, two spacecraft operate as one distributed system – fully autonomously, without guidance from Earth.

Powered by onboard autonomous vision and optical and laser metrology, they detect each other from kilometres away, rendezvous, and maintain an ultra-stable formation in orbit.

At the core of Proba-3:

• Cooperative and non-cooperative navigation

• Autonomous GNC and manoeuvring capability

• On-board formation management

• Autonomous safety & collision avoidance

“Proba-3 shows why in-orbit technology demonstration matters. ESA deliberately takes bold technical risks in space, pushes systems beyond what has ever flown before, and delivers. This is how ground-breaking technologies become operational capabilities, not on paper, but in orbit,” says Damien Galano, Proba-3 mission manager.