The satellite will be launched anytime between October 15 and November 14.
ESA/S. Corvaja
A space telescope developed by Swiss researchers to observe distant planets has passed all tests and is ready to be launched into orbit end of the year.
This content was published on
1 minute
SDA-Keystone/ac
The telescope will travel on board the satellite CHEOPSExternal link (CHaracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite) as part of joint mission with the European Space agency. It passed the final last test carried out by Arianspace, said the university on Monday. The launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter aboard a Soyuz rocket on the Kourou launch pad in French Guiana.
“After six years of intensive work, we are delighted to see the time of departure approaching, even if take-off is still a delicate and stressful time,” said Willy Benz, head of the CHEOPS mission at the University of Bern.
Swiss firms Ruag Space and Thales Alenia also contributed to the project. CHEOPS will be placed in orbit 700 km from Earth. However, its main mission is not to discover new exoplanets. Instead the satellite will observe and characterise the planets of some 500 particularly bright stars for at least three years.
The distant planets’ atmosphere and the relationship between their mass and shape will be analysed to determine whether they are composed of rock, ice or gas.
More
More
A Swiss satellite in space
This content was published on
The University of Bern collaborated with the European Space Agency to create a new satellite that will be off to discover new planets in 2019.
Report finds serious security flaws in Swiss hospital information systems
This content was published on
The IT systems of several Swiss hospitals suffer from serious security flaws, according to the National Testing Institute for Cybersecurity (NTC).
Cost of leisure activities rises dramatically in Switzerland
This content was published on
The Swiss paid more for leisure activities in December. Prices for vacation apartments, package tours and cable cars rose significantly.
New Swiss epidemic surveillance centre inaugurated
This content was published on
The Centre for Pathogen Bioinformatics was inaugurated in Bern on Thursday. It aims to improve epidemics monitoring in Switzerland using genomic data.
This content was published on
Switzerland, as a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), signed a free trade agreement with Thailand during WEF.
This content was published on
The federal audit office has criticised the Swiss government for poor planning of the procurement of six drones from an Israeli supplier.
What technology could help humans live on the Moon?
This content was published on
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, 20 students were tasked with coming up with prototypes that could help humans live there.
This content was published on
Cleaning up space is the mission of a new Swiss start-up, ClearSpace, which will capitalise on technology developed by engineers at the EPFL.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.