SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 4Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Falcon 9 Block 4 | TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
Launch window
No countdown — this launch time is not yet known to the minute.April 18, 2018Add to calendar
SpaceX's 60th launch · 8th this year · humanity's 5,744th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Apr 18, 22:51 – Apr 18, 22:52 UTC
Flight preview
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a NASA space telescope, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method. TESS will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, orbiting a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances. The principal goal of the TESS mission is to detect small planets with bright host stars in the solar neighborhood, so that detailed characterizations of the planets and their atmospheres can be performed.
Astrophysics · High Earth Orbit (HEO)
Booster
- B1045 · flight 1 · Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship @ Of Course I Still Love You · landed · zone record 209/217
Watch
- Liftoff of TESS — NASA's Kennedy Space Center
- TESS Mission — SpaceX
News
NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way
For the first time, NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has identified a planet orbiting a distant star thanks to ripples in space-time. Unlike the star-hugging transiting planets TESS regularly reveals, the newfound world is a super-Jupiter orbiting far from its host star. “When TESS launched, no one expected it to ever be capable […]
NASA’s TESS Mission Reveals the “Puffiest” Planets Ever Found
NASA has revealed two new “super-puff” planets, giant worlds so light that their density is comparable to cotton candy. Scientists calculate that these Jupiter-sized planets are the “puffiest” worlds ever found.
