Plato’s artist impression, view from below

Artist impression of the European Space Agency’s Plato mission.

In this view from below, we see a boxy part of the spacecraft, called ‘service module’. This contains computers to operate instruments’ electronics and other critical spacecraft components, including subsystems to control its orientation and orbital motion, propel it through space, distribute power, communicate with Earth, and handle data transfer.

The dish sticking out at the bottom is the high-gain antenna used to communicate with ground stations. The structure wrapping around the ‘back’ of the spacecraft and extending outward like a pair of wings supports the solar panels and acts as a sunshield.

On top of the service model (and hardly visible here) sits the part, called ‘payload’, that carries Plato’s 26 ultra-sensitive cameras.

Plato will use all its cameras simultaneously to stare at the sky and discover planets that orbit stars similar to our Sun, searching for potentially habitable worlds. The mission is designed to study thousands of exoplanets in detail, focussing on terrestrial ones, and uncover exomoons and rings around them. Plato will also fundamentally advance our understanding of the interior and evolution of stars by monitoring tiny intensity variations in the starlight it receives.