A new mission to investigate exoplanets has rocketed into space

The CHEOPS satellite will gather data on previously discovered planets outside the solar system

The just-launched CHEOPS satellite (illustrated, over Earth) will spend the next 3½ years taking a closer look at known planets orbiting other stars.

December 18, 2019 at 6:33 am

A new satellite devoted to gazing at planets orbiting other stars has just launched into space.

At 3:54 a.m. Eastern time on December 18, the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS satellite lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana.