Having established Proba-3’s fitness to fly, the next step was to perform deployment mechanisms testing, trying out the systems that will separate the pair from their upper stage, and each other, as well as, crucially, the solar array drive mechanisms that will turn their solar panels towards the Sun, allowing them to charge up in orbit.

The next test stage will be one unique to this mission, explains Damien Galano, Proba-3 project manager: “For the Proba-3 pair to maintain their positions relative to each other down to millimetre-level precision, they employ a range of guidance, navigation and control systems. We are taking advantage of the large amount of space available at IABG to test Proba-3’s vision-based sensor system. This combines cameras on the Occulter spacecraft with bright LEDs on the Coronagraph spacecraft to allow them to find each other and estimate their distance apart.