ESA’s Proba-3 Coronagraph spacecraft loses contact after February 2026 attitude-control anomaly

Exam-focused facts from the 11 March 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Proba-3’s Coronagraph spacecraft lost attitude control during 14-15 February 2026, stopping its solar panels from facing the Sun and draining its battery.
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported the spacecraft entered survival mode and communications with ground control were cut off.
Proba-3 was launched in 2024 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and comprises two satellites, the Coronagraph and the Occulter, flying 150 metres apart to create artificial solar eclipses for studying the Sun’s corona.
ESA mission teams are investigating the anomaly and plan to use the healthy Occulter spacecraft to approach the Coronagraph and assess its orientation to aid recovery efforts.