Proba-V is a small ESA satellite that watches the world's vegetation and carries guest experiments.
esa-proba-v Proba-V, a small satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA), monitors vegetation worldwide from a polar orbit 820 km up. It crosses the equator every morning between 10:30 and 11:00 local time. Its Vegetation imager sees a strip of ground 2250 km wide.
The Vegetation sensor has to live with big temperature swings. Its sunlit face might reach 100 °C while the side facing deep space can drop to minus 50 °C or lower. Titanium isolators, chosen because they conduct heat poorly, join it to the rest of the satellite, and a dozen layers of insulation wrap it.
A small ESA satellite that monitors vegetation worldwide and carries guest experiments. Its public pages describe thermal-vacuum testing of the structure, which makes it a useful reference for qualifying a small Earth-observation platform.
The body is an H-shaped structure of aluminium honeycomb panels, light sandwiches with a cellular core. The thin face sheets are aluminium alloy 2024-T3, 0.8 mm thick on the inner panels and 0.4 mm on the top and Earth-facing panels. Edge profiles and inserts are alloy 7075-T7351, and three outer panels are carbon-fibre composite.
The instrument has three telescopes. Each telescope's structure and mirrors are made of the same aluminium, in an athermal design, which means temperature changes should not upset the optics. A very accurately machined titanium structure ties the focal plane together, and titanium feet mount the instrument.
A 12-layer wrap of multi-layer insulation covers the instrument, and its radiator is covered with aluminised Teflon. For the satellite as a whole, thermal control is passive, using insulation and paint. A structural and thermal model, a stand-in for the real satellite, stayed within its temperature limits in a vacuum chamber.
The solar array has gallium arsenide cells under cover glass, arranged in 25 strings of 18. The battery is 12 Ah lithium-ion, made of ABSL 18650HC cells. In the radio, a gallium nitride amplifier flies as a guest technology.
The face sheets of the honeycomb panels, 0.8 mm thick inside and 0.4 mm on the top and Earth-facing panels.
Three outer panels, made of carbon-fibre composite.
The isolators, the focal plane structure and the mounting feet of the Vegetation instrument.
The three telescopes and their mirrors, all in the same aluminium.
The solar cells, under cover glass.
The amplifier in the communication system, flown as a guest technology.
Proba-V is one of ESA's Proba missions, and a Vega rocket launched it on 7 May 2013. Its Vegetation imager is a new version of the one flown on the Spot satellites. Guest experiments on board include an Energetic Particle Telescope, the SATRAM radiation monitor, an ADS-B detector for aircraft signals and a fibre optic photonics experiment.
ESA
Aluminium honeycomb core. Here: Structure (summary). There: H-configuration inner panels (3); Outer panels without cells and more.
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: TPMU/DSLP housing.
Carbon fibre. Here: Outer panels (3). There: Platform structure supplier (eoPortal).
Li-ion. Here: Battery. There: Battery.
Gallium arsenide. Here: Photovoltaic array. There: Solar cells.
ESA / Airbus
Titanium. Here: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more. There: OBA unit attachment fittings; Instrument support bipods (3).
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: Main structure tube; Equipment box (EQB) and more.
Carbon fibre. Here: Outer panels (3). There: OBA sandwich panels.
Li-ion. Here: Battery. There: Batteries and solar cells.
Multilayer insulation. Here: Instrument thermal wrap. There: Outer thermal blanket (both spacecraft).
NASA
Titanium. Here: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more. There: Heat shield skeleton.
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: Pressure vessel (seven large pieces, friction-stir welded); Backbone assembly (floor structure) and more.
Carbon fibre. Here: Outer panels (3). There: Core panels (webs, tank bulkhead, lower platform); Solar array wings (x4, X-wing, three panels each) with wing-tip cameras.
Multilayer insulation. Here: Instrument thermal wrap. There: Passive thermal control: multilayer insulation blankets (incl. high-temperature blankets at thrusters and nozzle) and heaters.
Gallium arsenide. Here: Photovoltaic array. There: Triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells (15,000 across the four wings).
SpaceX
Titanium. Here: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more. There: Grid fins, titanium version.
Aluminium honeycomb core. Here: Structure (summary). There: Interstage; Fairing shell (aluminium honeycomb with carbon fibre face sheets).
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: Tank domes (aluminium).
Carbon fibre. Here: Outer panels (3). There: Interstage face sheets; Landing legs.
Li-ion. Here: Battery. There: Lithium-ion batteries (redundant, on each stage).
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Titanium. Here: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more. There: Propellant tanks (2); Instrument mounting flexures.
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: Primary structure (heating/cooling panel, edge members, fittings, brackets); Optical-bench heater aluminum tape and more.
Li-ion. Here: Battery. There: Battery cells.
Multilayer insulation. Here: Instrument thermal wrap. There: High Gain Antenna multi-layer insulation and heaters.
NASA / JPL
Titanium. Here: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more. There: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more.
Aluminium. Here: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes). There: Wheel body (6).
Carbon fibre. Here: Outer panels (3). There: Heat shield facesheets.
Li-ion. Here: Battery. There: Rechargeable batteries (2).
ESA does not name the alloy of the honeycomb core, the adhesives, fasteners, paints or insulation films, or the base material under the radiator's aluminised Teflon. It gives no figures for the satellite's power, size or lifetime.
What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass | 140 kg |
| Orbit | Sun-synchronous polar, 820 km |
| Launch | 7 May 2013, Vega |
| Launcher | Vega |
| Payload | Vegetation imager |
| Swath | 2250 km |
| Guest technology | Gallium nitride amplifier in comms subsystem |
| Temperature extremes (sensor) | sunlit face up to 100 C, deep-space side down to -50 C |
Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.
Used in 3 partsFocal plane interconnecting structure · Instrument mounting feet / flexures · Titanium isolators (ESA page)
Used in 1 partStructure (summary)
Used in 1 partInstrument radiator
Used in 1 partHoneycomb panel face sheets
Used in 1 partEdge profiles and hot inserts
Used in 1 partTelescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes)
Used in 1 partOuter panels (3)
Used in 1 partCommunication amplifier
Used in 1 partBattery
Used in 1 partInstrument thermal wrap
Used in 1 partPhotovoltaic array
eoPortal gives a real alloy-and-temper list for the bus structure (face sheets, edge profiles, inserts, CFRP panels) and several instrument parts, but not a full bill of materials.
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honeycomb panel face sheets“Aluminum (AA2024-T3): Face sheets t = 0.8 mm inner panels, t = 0.4 mm top and nadir panel), honeycomb core (t = 10. 8 mm)” | Aluminum (AA2024-T3)aluminium-2024 | — | — |
| Honeycomb core“honeycomb core (t = 10. 8 mm)” | Not said | — | — |
| Edge profiles and hot inserts“Aluminum (AA7075-T7351): edge profiles, hot inserts” | Aluminum (AA7075-T7351)aluminium-7075 | — | — |
| Outer panels (3)“3 CFRP (EX-1515/M55J + Redux 312L) outer panels” | CFRP (EX-1515/M55J + Redux 312L)carbon-fibre | — | EX-1515/M55J; Redux 312L |
| Structure (summary)“Structure Aluminium honeycomb H-structure” | Aluminium honeycombaluminium-honeycomb-hexweb | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photovoltaic array“Photo-Voltaic Array : Triple junction GaAs cells (3G-28%) Cover glass CMG 100AR coating, 25 strings, 18 cells per string” | Triple junction GaAs cells (3G-28%) with cover glass CMG 100AR coatinggallium-arsenide | — | 3G-28%; CMG 100AR |
| Battery“Battery:12 Ah Li-ion (7s8p) ABSL 18650HC cells” | Li-ionlithium-ion-cell | — | ABSL 18650HC |
| Platform thermal control“Thermal Passive (MLI and paint)” | MLI and paint (types not named) | — | — |
| Communication amplifier“Gallium nitride amplifier incorporated in communication subsystem” | Gallium nitridegallium-nitride | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes)“The entire telescope (structure and mirrors included) is an athermal design made of the same aluminum material.” | aluminum (same material for structure and mirrors; alloy not stated)aluminium | — | — |
| Focal plane interconnecting structure“a very accurately machined interconnecting structure in titanium” | titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Instrument mounting feet / flexures“the instrument is mounted by means of titanium quasi isostatic mounting feet” | titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Titanium isolators (ESA page)“Titanium isolators, especially chosen for their poor conductivity, attach it to the rest of the satellite.” | Titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Instrument thermal wrap“the instrument is completely wrapped in a 12 layer MLI” | MLI, 12 layers (film not named)multilayer-insulation-mli | — | — |
| Instrument radiator“the radiator, covered with aluminized Teflon” | aluminized Teflon covering (radiator base material not stated)fep | aluminized Teflon | — |
Honeycomb core alloy and cell size, adhesives (only 'Redux 312L' named, with no stated role beyond the CFRP bracket), fasteners, MLI film types, paint products and radiator base material are not stated. The table is a heritage/equipment table, so panel-by-panel positions are not given.
Collected from public pages and documents, checked 4 Nov 2026.
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