ESA Science & Technology - CHEOPS

ESA's new exoplanet mission, CHEOPS, has found a nearby planetary system to contain one of the hottest and most extreme extra-solar planets known to date: WASP-189 b. The finding, the very first from the mission, demonstrates CHEOPS' unique ability to shed light on the Universe around us by revealing the secrets of these alien worlds.

CHEOPS, ESA's new exoplanet mission, has successfully completed its almost three months of in-orbit commissioning, exceeding expectations for its performance.

ESA's exoplanet-observer CHEOPS acquired the first image of its initial target star, following the successful telescope cover opening on 29 January 2020.

Proposals are invited for the CHEOPS Discretionary Programme, an element of the Guest Observers Programme which enables scientists to propose observations of individual targets that have been discovered, or declared to be of high scientific merit, since the close of AO-1 back in mid-May 2019.

CHEOPS, ESA's 'Characterising Exoplanet Satellite', was successfully launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 08:54:20 UTC (09:54:20 CET) on 18 December 2019. Watch the replay of the liftoff here.

Download this interactive media kit to learn more about the launch of CHEOPS and the science goals of the mission.