France launched a planet-learning satellite 60 years from Earth

On January 12, France was about the size of a bottle of champagne into Earth's orbit to study a young and mysterious planetary system.

The mission of PicSat satellite is to study giant star Beta Pictoris.

At a weight of 3.5 kg, the PicSat satellite has been launched into space with Indian PSLV missiles , and is put into orbit at a height of 505km. PicSat satellites are equipped with an observation telescope and solar panels to recharge the system operating energy.

The mission of PicSat satellite is to study Beta Pictoris , about 60 light-years from Earth and located in the southern constellation Pictor, as well as its Beta Pictoris b planet . From Earth, the PicSat satellite will study more about this distant planet through observing the next time this planet passes through the host star. This 18-year event is scheduled to take place in 2018.

Through measuring the amount of light that a planet would obscure when passing through its star, astronomers can calculate in detail the size and composition of the planet's atmosphere.

Discovered in 1984, the Beta Pictoris star has 1.8 times the mass of the Sun and is estimated to be about 20 million years old. Surrounding this star is a giant disk of dust gas, which forms elements of planets, asteroids and comets. This makes Beta Pictoris the ideal object to study the development of the solar system.