---
title: "Europe is Launching a Planet-Hunting Space Telescope Tomorrow"
description: "The ESA is launching a space telescope called CHEOPS (Characterising Exoplanets Satellite) on Tuesday to study distant planets."
date: "2019-12-16"
modified: "2019-12-16"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/europe-launching-planet-hunting-space-telescope-tomorrow"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "ESA"
  - "Exoplanets"
  - "Space Telescope"
  - "the digest"
---

# Europe is Launching a Planet-Hunting Space Telescope Tomorrow

![The ESA is launching a space telescope called CHEOPS (Characterising Exoplanets Satellite) on Tuesday to study distant planets.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/europe-launching-planet-hunting-space-telescope-tomorrow.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ESA\</em\>*

## Characterizing Exoplanets

The European Space Agency is launching a space telescope called the Characterising Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS) on Tuesday, designed to study distant planets and learn how they formed.

While larger space telescopes, like NASA's Hubble, are built for a number of tasks, CHEOPS is built specifically to study the radius and mass of distant planets.

Thanks to its photometer, it can measure minuscule changes in light when a planet eclipses or partially eclipses the light from its host star as it passes in front of it. The information can be used to study the size and density of the object as well.

## Finding Life

With that kind of information, scientists hope to identify exoplanets that could sustain complex life. They'll focus the search on star systems that are already known to host planets, according to a [July statement](<https://sci.esa.int/web/cheops/-/61493-cheops-passes-final-review-before-shipment-to-launch-site>).

The telescope will be in orbit 700 kilometers above Earth for the next three and a half years, collecting 1.2 gigabits of information every day, according to [ESA's website](<http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cheops>).

NASA expects to launch its own next space telescope, the massive [James Webb Telescope](<https://futurism.com/tags/james-webb-telescope>), in [March 2021](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-completes-webb-telescope-review>). It will be able to do a host of things, including getting glimpses of the earliest known galaxies.

**READ MORE:** [Europe's Cheops telescope will profile distant planets](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50804258>) \[*BBC*\]

**More on space telescopes:** *[NASA Finally Assembled The James Webb Space Telescope](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-assembled-james-webb-space-telescope>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)