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
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Cheops, the Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, is ESA’s first mission dedicated to the study of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets. It will observe bright stars that are already known to host planets, measuring minuscule brightness changes due to the planet’s transit across the star’s disc.
The mission is scheduled to launch as a secondary passenger on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket launching from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 17 December 2019. The launcher will deliver Cheops directly to its operational orbit, a Sun-synchronous dusk–dawn orbit 700 km above Earth.
Following the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) and In-Orbit Commissioning (IOC) of the spacecraft, responsibility for operations will be taken over by the Cheops Mission Consortium. The Mission Operations Centre is under the responsibility of INTA in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain, while the Science Operations Centre and the overall coordination of the ground segment will be located at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Note: This infographic was updated on 20 December 2019.