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The Astro Awards 2026, organised on January 17-18th in Austin, Texas (USA), celebrated the most inspiring, innovative, and impactful spaceflight and space science missions of the past year.

One of the standout honourees was the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Proba-3 mission, awarded for its groundbreaking achievements in autonomous precision formation flying, a major technological milestone in space exploration.

Launched on December 5th 2024, Proba-3 is the world’s first mission dedicated to demonstrating highly precise satellite formation flying in orbit. The mission uses two small satellites flying in tandem, maintaining relative positions with millimetre-level accuracy over distances around 150 m for hours at a time. This level of autonomy, achieved without continuous ground control, enables the pair to act as a single “virtual giant spacecraft,” opening new possibilities for future space architectures. In space, this capability has been used to create sustained artificial solar eclipses, allowing the mission to capture detailed views of the solar corona while overcoming the glare that normally hinders such observations.

SPACEBEL is a key partner of this pioneering space mission with the development of the entire Proba-3 software package.

During the ceremony, Michaela Benthaus, ESA engineer, received the trophy in recognition of these extraordinary Proba-3 technological and scientific achievements in 2025.
Ian Carnelli, Head of ESA’s Systems Department, expresses his gratitude on behalf of the Proba-3 team in a video.

This distinction stands as a remarkable acknowledgement of the dedication and expertise of all partners involved in the mission’s success, including the SPACEBEL Proba-3 teams.

Congratulations to all stakeholders!