On Tuesday, the European Space Agency ESA postponed its scheduled launch of an important satellite at the last minute. The satellite was carrying a telescope called CHEOPS with it. CHEOPS telescope will help the agency to study the far planets in great detail.
The spokesperson from ESA revealed the reason behind the cancellation of the launch. He stated that a problem in the CHEOPS telescope leads to the last-minute cancellation of the satellite.
More about CHEOPS
CHEOPS- CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite will observe the stars around our solar system, which host exoplanets. Exoplanets are the planets outside the solar system and revolving around their respective sun. It will specifically notice the planets having the size between the earth and Neptune. Apart from the planets existing in our solar system, there are 4,143 discovered planets in the galaxy.
CHEOPS will determine the nature of the planets, such as whether the planets have a surface or it made up of gases. One of the primary focuses of the planet is to discover the planets having a habitable condition for human beings. It will also observe special features of the exoplanets, such as oceans, the number of natural satellites, and special ring structure, the scientists from the European Space Agency, confirmed.
The Launch in Details
The satellite supposed to launch from the Kourou in France the last Tuesday. Kourou is one of the spaceports of the European Space Agency. A Soyuz-Fregat rocket would carry the satellite into the orbit. The space agency planned to live-stream the launch on its official website. Arianespace Company, who was responsible for the launch, revealed that just 85 minutes before the launch, scientists noticed an interruption in the automated sequence. As a result, they had to cancel the launch immediately. The company confirmed that it would declare the new launch date of the CHEOPS very soon.
Europe is expanding its ambition in space, as the budget amount increases significantly at the beginning of this year.
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