Cheops will study these planets using a Ritchey-Chretien Telescope supplied by the University of Bern, in Switzerland. It was integrated last month at Airbus' Madrid-Barajas site on the already-finished platform. Following successful integration the spacecraft will be sent to France, Switzerland and The Netherlands for a comprehensive test campaign on 9 July.
The campaign will include a complete set of functional and environmental tests to ensure that the spacecraft is fit for launch. The satellite will then return to Madrid for final functional tests and a final inspection before it is shipped to Kourou, French Guiana, for launch.
The satellite, which is implemented as a partnership between ESA and Switzerland, is on track for launch by the end of the year on a Soyuz rocket from Kourou. The Cheops mission will analyse, for at least three and a half years, the transit of exoplanets as they pass in front of their stars. It will operate from a Sun-synchronous orbit, at an altitude between 650 and 800 km.
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