The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) has successfully completed a crucial “fit check” for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission, confirming that the spacecraft is ready for its next launch.

The two-satellite missiondesigned to create an artificial solar eclipse in space, is scheduled to take off on December 4, 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.

The Proba-3 satellites arrived at the launch site earlier this month and underwent rigorous functional testing to ensure they would not be affected by their journey from Europe.

After successful evaluations, the spacecraft was transferred to the SP-2B facility for next phase of launch preparations.

In a critical step, the Coronagraph spacecraft was carefully lowered and mated to the launch vehicle’s payload adapter that will connect it to India’s PSLV-XL rocket.

Engineers installed the hose clamp to secure the connection and tested the umbilical cables that will monitor the spacecraft during refueling and launch. Successful completion of this fit check confirms that the hardware, prepared on opposite sides of the Earth, fits perfectly as intended.

The second element of the mission, the Occult spacecraft, will be stacked on top of the Coronagraph for flight.

Once in orbit, the Disc Occultor will block the bright surface of the Sun, creating an artificial eclipse that allow sustained observations of the faint solar corona – a crucial region for understanding space weather and the origins of the solar wind.

This latest mission shows the seamless collaboration between ESA and Isro, paving the way for this groundbreaking mission that aims to revolutionize our understanding of the solar atmosphere through precision formation flights in space.