Airbus has received confirmation from ESA of a successful end to the In Orbit Commissioning of CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite).
Over the past two and a half months Airbus has conducted the operations to verify the performance of the satellite, the ground segment and the science package. It is the first European exoplanetary mission and the first ESA mission built by Airbus in Spain.
The entire mission development was completed in record time without delays and met the very tight budget. To do this, Airbus managed a team of 24 companies from 11 European countries, 7 of them Spanish, confirming Airbus as the driving force behind the space industry in Spain.
As a reminder, CHEOPS with 280 kg mass was launched to the sun-synchronous orbit with 700 km hight on the 18th of December 2019. CHEOPS will characterise exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, observing known planets in the size range between Earth and Neptune and precisely measuring their radii to determine their density and understand what they are made of.
CHEOPS satellite. Source: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Airbus_completes_In_Orbit_Commissioning_of_CHEOPS_999.html
Read more:
- https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Airbus_completes_In_Orbit_Commissioning_of_CHEOPS_999.html
- https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cheops/Cheops_opens_its_eye_to_the_sky
- http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2020/01/Cheops_launch_preparations
- https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cheops