Airbus Defence and Space selected as prime contractor for CHEOPS satellite

The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor for its first small-type mission, ‘CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite’ (CHEOPS).

Under the contract, Airbus will be responsible for design and construction of the satellite, which is scheduled for launch in 2017.

Planned to be built on Airbus Defence and Space AstroBus platform, the satellite will be the ninth for an ESA programme after Sentinel 5 Precursor and the MetOp second generation satellites.

Airbus Defence and Space Space Systems head Franc¸ois Auque said: "The mission represents a challenge for both ESA and industry, as it requires a very demanding development programme in terms of design, quality and planning in order to achieve launch in 2017."

The S-class CHEOPS will use ultra-high precision photometry to monitor brightness of stars to help determine radii of exoplanets.

It is designed to operate at an altitude of around 800km in a helio-synchronous orbit at an inclination of about 98° for approximately 3.5 years.

Scientists will look for signs of a planet’s transit as it passes in front of its star, which will allow the satellite to determine the exact radius of the planet, according to Airbus Defence and Space.

With this data, density of planets with known masses can be calculated, leading the way to determine their internal structure, formation and evolution, as well as providing targets for in-depth characterisation using future ground and space-based spectroscopic facilities.

The satellite’s on-board CHEOPS Instrument System is being built at the University of Bern.

The CIS features a 33.5cm-diameter Ritchey-Chre´tien telescope and a backside illuminated charge-coupled device detector.

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Image: An illustration of CHEOPS satellite. Photo: courtesy of EADS-CASA Espacio SL / Airbus Defence and Space.