The Einstein Probe (EP) aims to study time-domain high-energy astrophysics, with the primary objective to carry out wide-field-view sky survey in the soft X-ray band, discover high-energy transients and monitor variable objects.

The EP satellite will provide a powerful tool to discover the merger of black holes with other objects, to servey the black holes to find out their distribution, formation and evolution in the Universe, to capture the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves, provide unique new evidence for studying the early Universe, supernovae, and the activities of compact objects. EP will produce larges mounts of observational data such as X-ray all-sky dynamic images and X-ray spectral timing data for various X-ray sources, which will provide valuable data accumulation for the development of time-domain astronomy. It is also the first time that quiescent (inactive) black holes are treated as the main observational targets of an X-ray satellite, which gives the EP the capability to greatly promote the research field in the event of black holes swallowing stars.

To take all-sky survey in X-ray band, the EP carries a set of widefield-of-view X-ray imagers and two Wolter-I type X-ray telescopes with high sensitivity to discover rare X-ray transients and to detect unknown type X-ray transient objects. The mission is expected to make important scientific discoveries in time-domain astronomy and its multiple intersections with astrophysics and cosmology.