An EU-funded project is aiming to raise private sector funds for a new space telescope to study exoplanets, potentially becoming the world’s first semi-commercial space mission.
The EXODATA project is aiming to raise as much as half of the cost of a new space mission by selling satellite time and data internationally. If successful, this mission could revolutionise the funding model for space missions which, up until now, have been largely funded by the public sector.
The space mission, called Twinkle, is set to launch in three years. The Twinkle telescope will scan exoplanets – the planets orbiting the stars we see in the night sky – and will aim to find out what they are made of.
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