For the first time, a pair of European satellites have successfully created artificial solar eclipses by flying in precise formation, offering scientists hours of total solar eclipse-like conditions for research.
The European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled the results at the Paris Air Show, showcasing images captured by the Proba-3 mission. Launched late last year, the two small cube-shaped satellites—each under 5 feet (1.5 meters) in size—have been simulating solar eclipses since March by flying 492 feet (150 meters) apart in Earth’s orbit.
In this formation, one satellite acts as a sun blocker—similar to how the Moon covers the Sun during a natural eclipse—while the second satellite observes the solar corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, with its onboard telescope. Achieving this requires millimeter-level precision, managed autonomously through GPS, star trackers, lasers, and radio links.
Lead scientist Andrei Zhukov of the Royal Observatory of Belgium confirmed that Proba-3 has already created 10 successful artificial eclipses during its testing phase. One eclipse lasted five hours, and the team hopes to reach up to six hours of totality once full scientific operations begin in July.
“We almost couldn’t believe our eyes,” Zhukov said, referring to the clarity of the corona images without any post-processing. “This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible.”
The mission aims to simulate about two eclipses per week, totaling nearly 200 eclipses and over 1,000 hours of totality during its two-year span—far surpassing the few minutes offered by natural eclipses, which occur only once every 18 months on average.
The Sun’s corona remains a subject of intense scientific curiosity, as it is significantly hotter than the solar surface and the source of powerful coronal mass ejections that can affect Earth’s magnetic field, power grids, and satellite communications.
Although earlier missions like Solar Orbiter and SOHO have created simulated eclipses, those used sun-blocking discs attached to the same spacecraft. Proba-3’s innovation lies in separating the occulting satellite and the telescope, providing a clearer view of the inner corona close to the Sun’s edge.
ESA’s mission manager Damien Galano hailed the breakthrough:
“We are extremely satisfied by the quality of these images, and again this is really thanks to formation flying.”
