Institute of research into the fundamental laws of the Universe

The program committee of the European Space Agency has just selected the ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) mission as the 4th intermediate class mission of the "Cosmic Vision" program with a budget of 450 million euros . ARIEL will be launched from the Kourou base in French Guiana in May 2028 and will be placed in orbit at the Lagrange L2 point, located 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth. ARIEL is a space telescope that will systematically probe the atmospheres of a thousand extrasolar planets, from gas giants to rocky planets, whether hot or temperate, around stars of different types. ARIEL will measure the composition and structure of planetary atmospheres, constrain the nature of planetary cores, detect the presence of clouds, and investigate interactions with the host star.