Swedish participation in the ESA CHEOPS mission

CHEOPS is a space telescope dedicated to characterising exoplanets through ultra-precise photometry.

CHEOPS was launched in December 2019 and is performing extremely well, producing large amounts of exciting science, such as the measurement of the reflectivity of exoplanet atmospheres, the discovery of a curious resonance between the orbital period of a planet and the rotational period of its young star, or the discovery of rings around the dwarf planet Quaoar.

These and many other discoveries are dependent on the instrument performing at its best.

CHEOPS is now finishing its nominal mission but a new and exciting science programme has been defined for the extended mission, recently approved by ESA to continue to until at least December 2026.

We here propose to continue with the highly successful Swedish participation in CHEOPS, both the minimum previously obligatory part and the extended contribution primarily concerning the development of software able to address instrumental effects that will be increasingly important as the instrument ages.