Status
Success
Rocket
Vehicles
Mission Details
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky. In a two-year survey of the solar neighborhood, TESS will monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary transits. This first-ever space-borne all-sky transit survey will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, around a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances. No ground-based survey can achieve this feat. TESS used a lunar gravity assist to get into it's final orbit, and is in a 2:1 resonant orbit with the moon. It's orbit is expected to stay stable for 10 years.
Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 362.0 kg
Highly Elliptical Orbit
Location
SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA
Stats
2018
38th orbital launch attempt
SpaceX
60th mission
8th mission of 2018
54th successful mission
26th consecutive successful mission
Falcon 9
54th mission
7th mission of 2018
51st successful mission
25th consecutive successful mission