Assessment of PLATO Science Performance
Abstract
The PLATO mission is scheduled for launch early 2027. In this paper we present an overview of the performance drivers for the mission at the time where all flight models of the cameras have been tested and integrated on the optical bench. The PLATO consortium needs an estimate of the planet detection yield to dimension the ground-based radial velocity follow-up resources. We provide updated estimates on the yield of planet detections that can be expected from the mission under certain assumptions. As of today, large uncertainties remain on the planet occurrence rates, especially for small planets in long-period orbits, and on our ability to detect these planets in the presence of stellar variability and instrumental noise. To partially overcome these limitations, we compare results using different planet occurrence rates, detectability rates, and we include an estimate on the expected contribution of stellar variability to the noise budget. The final detection yield of PLATO will provide constraints to planet occurrence rates which in turn will help constraining planet formation models.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.04818,
title = {Assessment of PLATO Science Performance},
author = {Juan Cabrera and Heike Rauer and Reza Samadi and Valerio Nascimbeni and Anko Boerner and Denis Grießbach and Carsten Paproth and Martin Pertenaıs and Sami-M. Niemi and Szilard Csizmadia and Asier Abreu and Conny Aerts and Suzanne Aigrain and Matthias Ammler-von Eiff and Beatriz Aparicio del Moral and Thierry Appourchaux and David J. Armstrong and Ann Baeke and Gabor G. Balazs and Kevin Belkacem and Aaron Birch and Paz Bluhm and Tobias Boenke and Fabrice Boquet and Sam Bowling and David J. A. Brown and Claude Catala and William J. Chaplin and Margarida S. Cunha and Cilia Daminani and Guy R. Davies and Jeanne Davoult and Francesca De Angeli and Joris De Ridder and Magali Deleuil and Jean-Michel Desert and Jose Javier Diaz Garcia and Anna M. Di Giorgio and Lauren Doyle and Billy Edwards and Philipp Eigmueller and Johannes Eising and Anders Erikson and Yoshi Emilia Nike Eschen and Lorenza Ferrari and Dominic C. Ford and Hugo Garcia Vazquez and Laurent Gizon and Juan Manuel Gomez Lopez and Nicolas Gorius and Marie-jo Goupil and Valentina Granata and John Lee Grenfell and Emmanuel Grolleau and Sascha Grziwa and Tristan Guillot and Diana L. Harrison and Rene Heller and Ana M. Heras and Simon T. Hodgkin and Rik Huygen and Nicholas Jannsen and David Kappel and Peter Klagyivik and Alexander Koncz and Diana Kossakowska and Alvaro Labiano and Kristine Lam and Antonino Francesco Lanza and Monika Lendl and Yves Levillain and Francisco A. Lobon Villanueva and Demetrio Magrin and Luca Malavolta and Silvia Marinoni and Paola Marrese and Cesar Martin Garcia and Miguel Mas Hesse and Pierre Maxted and James McCormac and Andrea Miglio and Marco Montalto and Thierry Morel and Alvaro Morena and Andres Moya and Matteo Munari and Martin B. Nielsen and Rhita-Maria Ouazzani and Isabella Pagano and Carmen Pastor Morales and Gisbert Peter and Jordan Philidet and Giampaolo Piotto and Philippe Plasson and Don Pollacco and Elena Puga and Roberto Ragazzoni and Gonzalo Ramos Zapata and Sara Regibo and Guy T. Rixon and Nicolas Robles Muñoz and Julio Rodriguez Gomez and Pierre Royer and Miguel Andres Sanchez Carrasco and Rosario Sanz Mesa and Gabriel Schwarzkopf and Dries Seynaeve and Alan Smith and Alexis M. S. Smith and Leigh C. Smith and Sophia Sulis and Geert Jan J. Talens and Ruth Titz-Weider and Stephane Udry and Bart Vandenbussche and Ivan Valtchanov and Peter Verhoeve and Dave Walton and Nicholas A. Walton and Thomas G. Wilson and Ulrike Witteck and David Wolter and Claas Ziemke and Konstanze Zwintz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.04818},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
submitted to the special issue on PLATO in Experimental Astronomy