Integration of ESA’s Cheops science instrument (top) with the spacecraft platform (bottom) in the cleanroom at Airbus Defence and Space in Madrid, Spain.
The science instrument, which includes among other elements the telescope and detector, was built and tested at the University of Bern, Switzerland. It was shipped to Spain in April to be integrated with the spacecraft platform for further tests and launch preparations. Once in orbit, Cheops will observe transits of known exoplanets around bright stars to characterise these planetary systems.