CHEOPS exoplanet-observing satellite at launch pad. CHEOPS is the European Space Agency (ESA)'s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite. Here, it is inside the payload faring and upper stage composite of the Soyuz-Fregat rocket that will launch it from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Also being launched are the Italian space agency's Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellite, and three CubeSats, including ESA's OPS-SAT. The satellites were launched from the spaceport on 18 December 2019. CHEOPS will spend around 4 years studying transiting exoplanets orbiting bright and nearby stars. Photographed on 12 December 2019.