https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/european-space-telescope-to-launch-new-era-of-exoplanet-science/ > The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch a first-of-its-kind exoplanet telescope, which will perform detailed studies of hundreds of known worlds beyond the Solar System. The mission heralds a shift from missions designed to discover such planets—some 4,000 of which have now been found—to those intended to learn about them in detail, say astronomers. > Called CHEOPS (Characterising Exoplanet Satellite), the 300-kilogram, €50-million (US$55-million) spacecraft is scheduled for launch on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on 17 December. It will be placed into orbit 700 kilometres above Earth, where its main instrument will point constantly towards our planet’s night side so that its view of space is uninterrupted by sunlight.