  One of the objectives of the CoRoT mission is the search for transiting
extrasolar planets using high-precision photometry, and the accurate
characterization of their fundamental parameters. The CoRoT satellite
consecutively observes crowded stellar fields since February 2007, in
high-cadence precise photometry; periodic eclipses are detected and analysed in
the stellar light curves. Then complementary observations using ground-based
facilities allows establishing the nature of the transiting body and its mass.
CoRoT has acquired more than 163,000 light curves and detected about 500 planet
candidates. A fraction of them (5%) are confirmed planets whose masses are
independently measured. Main highlights of the CoRoT discoveries are: i) the
variety of internal structures in close-in giant planets, ii) the
characterisation of the first known transiting rocky planet, CoRoT-7 b, iii)
multiple constraints on the formation, evolution, role of tides in planetary
systems.
