As an approved mission of the space science programme of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Einstein Probe (EP) is a small satellite to monitor the soft X-ray sky. EP will carry out systematic survey and characterisation of high-energy transients with unprecedented sensitivity, Grasp and monitoring cadence. Its wide-field (~3600 sq. deg.) imaging capability is enabled by using lobster-eye MPO X-ray focusing optics. It also carries a Wolter-I X-ray telescope for deep follow-up observations of transients discovered. Transient alerts will be issued in nearly real time to trigger fast follow-up observations at multi-wavelengths. The scientific goals of EP are to discover and characterise the X-ray sources of the new transient phenomena to be explored in the upcoming era of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger time-domain astrophysics. The mission is scheduled for launch by the end of 2022.
