Europe's Sun-Observation Satellite Loses Contact With Ground Control: Here's What We Know

Proba-3, which is Europe's ambitious solar mission, has hit a roadblock. The Coronagraph spacecraft, one of the two satellites powering the mission, has gone dark, leaving the scientists stunned. According to a recent post by the European Space Agency (ESA), an "anomaly" is the reason behind the loss of contact between the spacecraft and ground control. The scientists are probing to understand the cause, with mission teams working hard to recover the situation.

Also read | Asteroid 2024 YR4 Won't Collide With Moon In 2032: NASA

What exactly happened?

The Coronagraph spacecraft lost attitude control in mid-February 2026, causing its solar panels to stop facing the Sun and draining its battery. The satellite has entered survival mode, cutting off communication with Earth.

"During the weekend of 14-15 February 2026, an anomaly onboard Proba-3's Coronagraph spacecraft triggered a chain reaction that led to the progressive loss of attitude (spacecraft orientation) and prevented the entry into safe mode," ESA noted.

Also read | NASA Shares Image Revealing Egg Nebula's "Yolk" Star And Dust Cloud

Proba-3, successfully launched by the Indian space agency ISRO in 2024, consists of two satellites - the Coronagraph and the Occulter. It aims to study the Sun's corona, the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere, by creating artificial solar eclipses using two satellites flying 150 meters apart.

Now, the mission teams are working to restore contact using the healthy Occulter satellite. The Occulter may be used to approach the Coronagraph and assess the damage.

"The exact root cause of the anomaly is under investigation, and mission teams and operators have joined forces to attempt to re-establish contact with the spacecraft to recover the situation," said ESA.

"One of their priorities is to investigate how the mission's Occulter spacecraft, which remains healthy and operational, could safely approach the Coronagraph and observe its orientation in space to support the recovery efforts."