CHEOPS was proposed for the first S-class mission from ESA in March 2012. Launched on December 18th, 2019 from Kourou on VS23, CHEOPS has started routine operations early April 2020. The publication of the mission status on this page ends at that moment. All news about CHEOPS, including media releases about scientific results, can be found here: https://cheops.unibe.ch/news
| Status | Time |
|---|---|
| ESA’s Science Programme Committee has confirmed CHEOPS' continued operations to 2026 and an indicative extension to 2029 | 07. March 2023 |
| Routine operations have started | 04. April 2020 |
| In-orbit commissioning is officially successful | 25. March 2020 |
| CHEOPS is launched from Kourou on VS23 | 18. December 2019 |
| Arianespace confirmed the launch for the the 17th of December 2019. | 01. February 2019 |
| Currently the spacecraft is undergoing system qualification & acceptance review. | 01. January 2019 |
| By end 2018 all spacecraft environmental tests have been completed. | 31. December 2018 |
| In July 2018 the spacecraft thermal tests have been carried out. | 30. June 2018 |
| In May 2018 DLR delivered the Sensor Module for integration on the S/C | 07. May 2018 |
| On 11 April 2018 the flight instrument was delivered to the spacecraft in Madrid. | 11. April 2018 |
| In January 2018 the flight instrument calibration campaign stared. | 26. January 2018 |
| In November 2017 DLR delivered the Focal-Plane Module for integration to U-Bern | 14. November 2017 |
| In November 2017 the flight camera was received and aligned. | 14. November 2017 |
| In October 2017 the instrument was pre-calibrated with the EQM of the camera | 25. October 2017 |
| In July 2017 the instrument flight model was aligned with the EQM of the camera. | 27. July 2017 |
| In June 2017 the first ground segment validation test was executed (SVT-1A). | 12. June 2017 |
| In May 2016 the system CDR was passed. | 25. May 2016 |
| In April 2016 the instrument electrical model was delivered to the spacecraft. | 07. April 2016 |
| In January 2016 the instrument critical design review (CDR) was passed. | 13. January 2016 |
| In August 2015 the instrument structural and thermal model was delivered to the spacecraft. | 31. August 2015 |
| On 19 February 2014 CHEOPS was adopted by SPC. | 19. February 2014 |
| On 19 October 2012 it was selected for study for the first S-class mission. | 19. October 2012 |
| CHEOPS has been proposed as an S-class mission in response to the call for Proposals issued by ESA in March 2012. | 05. March 2012 |
The following summarizes the mission.
| Name | CHEOPS, CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite |
|---|---|
| Primary Goal | Known exoplanet host stars with a V-magnitude < 12 (goal: 13) anywhere on the sky (at least 50% sky observable) |
| Wavelength | Visible range : 400 to 1100 nm |
| Telescope | 32 cm reflective an-axis telescope |
| Orbit | Sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit, LTAN 6am, altitude 700 km |
| Lifetime | 3.5 years |
| Type | S-class mission |
(last update May 2020)