The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
Note: this graphic was updated in August 2022
The Cheops mission in the context of previous and future space missions dedicated to exoplanet science (top) and exoplanet-sensitive missions (bottom).
The Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops, will observe bright stars known to host exoplanets, in particular Earth-to-Neptune-sized planets, anywhere in the sky. By knowing exactly where and when to look for transits, and being able to return to repeatedly observe the same targets, Cheops will become the most efficient instrument to study individual exoplanets. It will record the precise sizes of these relatively small planets and combined with mass measurements already calculated from other observatories, will enable the planet's density to be determined, and thus make a first-step characterisation of the nature of these worlds.
Cheops will also identify candidates for additional study by future missions. For example, it will provide well-characterised targets for the international James Webb Space Telescope, which will perform further detailed studies of their atmospheres.
A generic version of this infographic, along with information on all the other missions shown, is available here.