CHEOPS space telescope earns mission extension after 3 years in orbit

The European Space Agency's CHEOPS mission, short for CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, has just been extended. Launched in December 2019, the mission was initially planned to last for three and a half years, i.e. until September 2023.

Led by the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva, CHEOPS is designed to study the characteristics of exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, with a focus on planets in the super-Earth to Neptune size range. The telescope is optimized to observe a single star at a time and it targets stars already known to host exoplanets. It orbits the Earth on a polar orbit at 700 km above the planet.

ESA's Science Programme Committee confirmed its continued operations to 2026 and an indicative extension to 2029 earlier this week, the University of Bern said in a press release. The newly-approved mission extension will allow the telescope to study these fascinating worlds around other stars in even more detail.

"In this respect, the mission has been extremely successful. The precision of CHEOPS has exceeded all expectations and has allowed us to determine the properties of several of the most interesting exoplanets," said Willy Benz, Professor emeritus of astrophysics at the University of Bern and head of the CHEOPS consortium.

During the extended mission, the CHEOPS team plans to continue using the space-based telescope for what it does best while at the same time trying out new observations. The telescope can also refine scientists' knowledge of already known exoplanets to select the best candidates to be observed with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to probe the atmospheres of these planets.

"Scientists are eager to find out what surprising results CHEOPS will bring next; what is sure now is that CHEOPS will continue to make new discoveries for years to come," Benz concluded. 

The mission of #CHEOPS #space telescope has been extended! Since its launch in Dec 2019, its extremely precise measurements have contributed to important #discoveries in the field of #exoplanets: https://t.co/UuWuVSUffC@esascience @ESA_CHEOPS @SBFI_CH @UNIGEnews @NCCRPlanetS pic.twitter.com/qhPuXhMkGB

— Universität Bern (@unibern) March 9, 2023