The following is a list of exoplanet search projects.
Ground-based search projects Project nameStatusNumber of exoplanets foundNotesAnglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS)Active28 (as of February 2014)Automated Planet Finder (APF)Active0based at the Lick Observatory (also known as the Rocky Planet Finder)Carl Sagan InstituteActive0CARMENESActive60+based at Calar Alto ObservatoryCORALIE spectrographActive5based at Leonhard Euler TelescopeEast-Asian Planet Search Network (EAPSNET)Active1ELODIEDecommissioned4EPICSFuture (2030?)N/Abased at the E-ELTESPRESSOActiveN/Abased at the VLTEXPRESActive N/Abased at the Lowell Discovery TelescopeFINDS Exo-EarthsActive 0based at the 3m telescope at Lick ObservatoryGemini Planet Imager (GPI)Active1Geneva Extrasolar Planet SearchActive1+High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS)Active130+HARPS-NActive18+HATNet and HATSouth Projects (HAT)Active109Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK)Active0 (A few candidates, including Kepler-1625 b I)HiCIAOActive0High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES)Active7+based at the W. M. Keck ObservatoryKELTDecommissioned 26 Lick–Carnegie Exoplanet Survey (LCES)Active1+Magellan Planet Search ProgramActive10+MARVELSActive1+MASCARAActive5MEarth ProjectActive3Microlensing Follow-Up Network (MicroFUN)Merged with PLANET10Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA)Active8Mt. John University ObservatoryMINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)Active0N2K ConsortiumActive7New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument (NESSI)Active0Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)Active20Next Generation Transit Survey Finds its First Planet, NGTS-1b. Sci Tech Daily. October 31, 2017at Paranal, since 2015Okayama Planet Search Program (OPSP)Active6Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE)Active17+PlanetPolDecommissioned0PRL Advanced Radial-velocity All-sky Search (PARAS)Active3Spectrograph integrated with the 1.2m Gurushikhar Observatory in Mount Abu, India.Project 1640Active0+Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES)Active9Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)Active0SOPHIE échelle spectrographActive0+Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE)Active1+SPECULOOSCommissioning -Searching 1,200 nearby "Ultra Cool Dwarfs" (M7 and later). Successor to TRAPPIST.Strategic Explorations of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru (SEEDS)Active1+SuperWASP (WASP)Active191SystemicActive0an amateur search projectThe Habitable Exoplanet Hunting ProjectActive1 (candidate)International network of more than 30 observatories including universities and amateur astronomers. Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES)Decommissioned5Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST)Active7Searching 50 nearby "Ultra Cool Dwarfs" (M7 and later). Prototype for SPECULOOS.XO Telescope (XO)Active7ZIMPOL/CHEOPSActive0subsystem of the VLT-SPHERE instrument, based at the VLTCOCONUTSActive3Large-scale survey for wide-orbit planetary and substellar companions
Space missions
Past and current NameLaunch dateEnd dateNumber of exoplanets foundCurrent candidatesTelescope useMOSTJune 20, 2003March 20191+0First spacecraft dedicated to the study of asteroseismologyEPOXIJuly 21, 2005August 8, 201300Characterized planets and fly-by of cometSWEEPS20062006160Based from the HST, a short 7 day mission looking for exoplanetsCoRoTDecember 27, 2006November 2, 201234600Mission to look for exoplanets using the transit methodKeplerMarch 7, 2009August 15, 20133,2464,711Mission to look for large numbers of exoplanets using the transit method K2November 18, 2013October 30, 2018427891 (+627 microlensing events)After the reaction wheels failed on Kepler, this mission was createdGaiaDecember 19, 2013March 27, 2025472+Map 1 billion astronomical objects in the Milky Way (First data Release November 2, 2016) ASTERIA November 2017 December 5, 201900CubeSat, technology demonstratorTESS April 18, 2018Ongoing735+7,890To search for new exoplanets; rotating so by the end of its two-year mission it will have observed stars from all over the sky. It is expected to find at least 3,000 new exoplanets. CHEOPS2019Ongoing2+0To learn more about how exoplanets form, probe atmospheres, and characterize super-Earths. 20% of time will be open to community use. Duration: 3.5 (+ 3 goal) yearsJWSTCommissioned on 25, December 2021Ongoing10To study atmospheres of known exoplanets and find some Jupiter-sized exoplanets Duration: 10 (+ 10 goal) years 3,263 (8,000 Total)8,000+
Planned NameLaunch dateMission objectivesDuration NotesARIEL2029 (Ariane 62)Observe exoplanets using the transit method, study and characterise the planets' chemical composition and thermal structures4 years RSTAugust 30, 2026To search for and study exoplanets while studying dark matter. It is expected to find about 2,500 planets.6 yearsPLATOMarch 2027 (Ariane 62)To search for and characterize rocky planets around stars like our own.4 (+4 goal) yearsTOLIMAN2027Detect exoplanets in Alpha Centauri using astrometry.3 yearsLIFE2040Detect and characterize the atmospheres of dozens of warm, terrestrial extrasolar planets.5-6 years
Proposed EXCEDE FINESSE Origins HabEx LUVOIR New Worlds Mission PEGASE
Canceled Darwin EChO Eddington Space Interferometry Mission Terrestrial Planet Finder
References