Paris (AFP)
A Soyuz rocket took off Wednesday from French Guiana taking the Cheops space telescope to the exoplanets it is responsible for studying, according to live images broadcast by Arianespace.
Nearly 4,000 exoplanets - orbiting a star other than the Sun - have been detected since the discovery of the first, 51 Pegasi b, 24 years ago.
The objective of Cheops (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is not to seek out new ones, but to analyze those already identified, to try to understand what they are made of, a step in the long quest for form conditions of extraterrestrial life and the origins of the Earth.
The average launcher, of which it is the third launch of the year, took off at 0554 hrs Kourou time (0854 hrs GMT) from the Guiana Space Center. The duration of the mission, from takeoff to separation of the satellites, will be approximately 4 hours and 13 minutes.
It will also carry the Earth observation satellite COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation, for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Italian Ministry of Defense. And three auxiliary charges: Angels, the first nanosatellite funded by CNES and produced entirely by French industry; Eyesat, also funded by CNES; and Ops-Sat, on behalf of ESA.
© 2019 AFP