Current status and future trends of exoplanet detection technologies

Exoplanet detection technologies are undergoing a systematic transition from ground-based observations to space-based platforms, and from large-scale planet discovery to detailed physical and atmospheric characterization. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the principles and current status of the major exoplanet detection techniques, including transit photometry, radial velocity measurements, as well as direct imaging and interferometric observations. The applicability and technical limitations of different observational approaches are compared in terms of planet detection, orbital determination and atmospheric characterization. Recent progress of representative space missions currently in operation or under development worldwide is summarized. The review shows that indirect detection methods continue to dominate in terms of the number of discovered exoplanets, providing essential statistical foundations for studies of planetary occurrence rates, population properties, and formation and evolution processes. Meanwhile, direct detection techniques, enabled by advances in adaptive optics, coronagraphy, and optical interferometry, have achieved significant breakthroughs in high-contrast imaging and atmospheric spectral retrieval of exoplanets. Infrared imaging missions represented by the James Webb space telescope have enabled direct multi-band spectroscopic measurements of exoplanetary atmospheres, while the development of ESA’s LIFE mission and China’s MEAYIN project marks the entry of space-based infrared interferometric detection into a new phase of ultra-high angular resolution. Future exoplanet exploration is expected to establish a coordinated framework that integrates ground-based and space-based observations as well as complementary indirect and direct detection techniques, thereby laying a solid scientific and engineering foundation for the detection of habitable planets and potential biosignatures.