PARIS: The European Space Agency announced on Thursday it has re-established communication with a spacecraft that is part of its Proba-3 mission, after losing contact with the satellite a month ago.

Proba-3, which launched on a two-year mission in 2024, uses two spacecraft flying in precise formation to simulate a solar eclipse more than 60,000 kilometres (37,000 miles) above Earth.

Scientists have used this delicate dance to get a rare glimpse of the Sun’s little-known outer atmosphere, which is called the corona. One satellite has a 1.4-metre (five-foot) shield that plays the role of the Moon in blocking the Sun’s light, while the other observes the corona from the shadow. However something happened to the second spacecraft, which has the crucial coronagraph instrument, on Feb 14. A chain reaction led to the spacecraft losing its orientation, causing its solar panel to face away from the Sun, draining the batteries. The spacecraft then entered survival mode — it has been silently floating through space since.

However overnight “some miracle happened because we reconnected with the spacecraft,” ESA director Josef Aschbacher said on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026