The PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) satellite, centrepiece of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) upcoming M3 mission for finding planets around other stars, has made one more step on its way to being ready for launch: At ESTEC, the technical heart of ESA located in the Netherlands, the satellite is currently undergoing extensive tests to ensure it is ready to be launched into space and able to operate there. As part of this, the satellite has now completed the vibration test: It has been vigorously shaken and blasted with deafening noise to simulate conditions during its upcoming launch into space. ESA’s engineers do this to make sure all the many delicate parts of PLATO, both the 26 individual cameras and the numerous on-board pieces of electronics, will survive the violent strain of a rocket launch.

We are delighted that PLATO passed the test and is now a step closer to launch, currently planned for the first quarter of 2027.

PLATO will use its 26 cameras to measure the brightness of more than one hundred thousand stars to find signs of orbiting exoplanets and characterise them with unprecedented accuracy.

The PLATO mission’s international scientific consortium is led by Prof. Dr. Heike Rauer, planetary scientist at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Freie Universität Berlin and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The mission’s preparation is supported by scientists at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Heike Rauer, Planetary Science and Remote Sensing Group, Institute of Geological Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, and German Aerospace Center (DLR), Email: heike.rauer@fu-berlin.de

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The contributions by Freie Universität Berlin to the PLATO mission are supported by German Federal Government via the German Space Agency at DLR (Grants 50OO1401, 50OP2103 and 50OP2104).