The CHEOPS, the first ESA small-class mission, has been performing photometric astronomical observations with a particular emphasis on exoplanetary science for the past five years. A distinctive feature of CHEOPS is that the responsibility for all operational aspects of the mission lies with the consortium rather than ESA. As a result, all subsystems, their architecture, and operational processes have been independently developed and tailored specifically to CHEOPS. This paper offers an overview of the CHEOPS operational subsystems, the design, and the automation framework that compose the two main components of the CHEOPS ground segment: the MOC and the SOC. This comprehensive description of the CHEOPS workflow aims to serve as a reference and potential source of inspiration for future small and/or independent space missions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2505.08352,
title = {CHEOPS Ground Segment: Systems and Automation for Mission and Science Operations},
author = {Alexis Heitzmann and María J. González Bonilla and Anja Bekkelien and Babatunde Akinsanmi and Mathias O. W. Beck and Nicolas Billot and Christopher Broeg and Adrien Deline and David Ehrenreich and Andrea Fortier and Marcus G. F. Kirsch and Monika Lendl and Nuria Alfaro Llorente and Naiara Fernández de Bobadilla Vallano and María Fuentes Tabas and Eva M. Vega Carrasco and Anthony G. Maldonado and David Modrego Contreras},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.08352},
year = {2025}
}