PLATO (spacecraft)

PLATO

Mission type	Space observatory
Operator	ESA
Website	sci.esa.int/web/plato/
Mission duration	4 years (plus 4 years of possible mission extensions)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	OHB System AG
Launch mass	2,134 kg (4,705 lb)[1] including 103 kg of propellant
Payload mass	533 kg (1,175 lb)[1]
Power	1,950 W[1]
Start of mission
Launch date	2026 (planned)
Rocket	Ariane 62[2]
Launch site	Kourou ELA-4
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Sun–Earth L2
Main
Type	Multiple refractors[3]
Diameter	26 telescopes, 120 mm each
Collecting area	2,250 deg2
Wavelengths	Visible spectrum: 500 to 1,000 nm
Cosmic Vision ← SMILE ARIEL →

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is a space telescope under development by the European Space Agency for launch in 2026.^[4] The mission goals are to search for planetary transits across up to one million stars, and to discover and characterize rocky extrasolar planets around yellow dwarf stars (like the Sun), subgiant stars, and red dwarf stars. The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in a liquid state.^[5] It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and is named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato. A secondary objective of the mission is to study stellar oscillations or seismic activity in stars to measure stellar masses and evolution and enable the precise characterization of the planet host star, including its age.^[6]