EChO

EChO
Mission typeAstronomy
OperatorESA
Websitesci.esa.int/echo
Mission duration4–5 years[1][2]
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass2,100 kg (4,600 lb)[3]
Start of mission
Launch date2024[1]
RocketSoyuz STA/Fregat[2]
Launch siteKourou ELS[3]
ContractorArianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSun–Earth L2[2][3]
RegimeHalo or Lissajous
Epochplanned
Main telescope
TypeCassegrain[2]
Diameter1.4 m (4.6 ft)[2]
Focal length2 m (6.6 ft)[2]
Collecting area14 m2 (150 sq ft)[2]
Wavelengthsfrom 0.55 μm (orange)
to 11μm (long-infrared)
(goal: 0.4 to 16 μm)[1][2]

The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) was a proposed space telescope[2] as part of the Cosmic Vision roadmap of the European Space Agency, and competed with four other missions for the M3 slot in the programme. On 19 February 2014 the PLATO mission was selected in place of the other candidates in the programme, including EChO.[4]

EChO would have been the first dedicated mission to investigate exoplanetary atmospheres, addressing the suitability of those planets for life and placing the Solar System in context. EChO was intended to provide high resolution, multi-wavelength spectroscopic observations. It would have measured the atmospheric composition, temperature and albedo of a representative sample of known exoplanets, constrain models of their internal structure and improve understanding of how planets form and evolve.[5] It would have orbited around the L2 Lagrange point, 1.5 million km from Earth in the anti-sunward direction.

  1. ^ a b c "EChO mission summary". EChO website. ESA. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tinetti, G.; Beaulieu, J. P.; Henning, T.; Meyer, M.; Micela, G.; Ribas, I.; Stam, D.; Swain, M.; Krause, O.; Ollivier, M.; Pace, E.; Swinyard, B.; Aylward, A.; Boekel, R.; Coradini, A.; Encrenaz, T.; Snellen, I.; Zapatero-Osorio, M. R.; Bouwman, J.; Cho, J. Y. K.; Coudé De Foresto, V.; Guillot, T.; Lopez-Morales, M.; Mueller-Wodarg, I.; Palle, E.; Selsis, F.; Sozzetti, A.; Ade, P. A. R.; Achilleos, N.; et al. (2012). "EChO - Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory" (PDF). Experimental Astronomy. 34 (2): 311. arXiv:1112.2728. Bibcode:2012ExA....34..311T. doi:10.1007/s10686-012-9303-4. S2CID 118578814. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. ^ a b c "EChO spacecraft". EChO website. ESA. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  4. ^ "ESA selects planet-hunting PLATO mission". ESA. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  5. ^ Tinetti, G.; Cho, J. Y. K.; Griffith, C. A.; Grasset, O.; Grenfell, L.; Guillot, T.; Koskinen, T. T.; Moses, J. I.; Pinfield, D.; Tennyson, J.; Tessenyi, M.; Wordsworth, R.; Aylward, A.; Van Boekel, R.; Coradini, A.; Encrenaz, T.; Snellen, I.; Zapatero-Osorio, M. R.; Bouwman, J.; Du Foresto, V. C.; Lopez-Morales, M.; Mueller-Wodarg, I.; Pallé, E.; Selsis, F.; Sozzetti, A.; Beaulieu, J. P.; Henning, T.; Meyer, M.; Micela, G.; et al. (2011). "The science of EChO" (PDF). Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 6: 359–370. Bibcode:2011IAUS..276..359T. doi:10.1017/S1743921311020448.