UCL to lead European ARIEL mission to study exoplanets

Due for launch in mid-2028, ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) will set out over four years to answer fundamental questions about how planetary systems form and evolve.

The spacecraft will do this by observing 1000 planets orbiting distant stars and conducting the first large-scale survey of the chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. ESA's Science Programme Committee announced the selection of ARIEL from three candidate missions on 20th March 2018.

The ARIEL mission has been developed by a consortium of more than 60 institutes from 15 ESA member state countries, including UK, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Hungary, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, with an additional contribution from NASA in the USA currently under study.

UK institutions have provided the leadership and planning for ARIEL, including UCL, STFC RAL Space, STFC UK ATC, Cardiff University and Oxford University.

ARIEL's Principal Investigator, Prof Giovanna Tinetti of UCL said, “Although we've now discovered around 3800 planets orbiting other stars, the nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious.