Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

Artist concept of TESS

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a NASA space telescope searching for planets outside of the Solar System. Like the Kepler (spacecraft), it is using occultation to find these extrasolar planets but is searching a larger part of the sky.

TESS was launched on April 18, 2018 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The total value of the launch services contract is US$87 million.^[1] SpaceX was awarded the launch in December 2014.^[2] As of November 2022 it had found 273 confirmed exoplanets and 4079 possible ones that need further investigation.

Orbit

TESS is orbiting the Earth with a period of about 14 days, which is half of the period of the Moon. The orbit is highly elliptical, closer to the Earth at some points but very far at other times. TESS has four high-resolution cameras and continuously takes photos of the sky. It sends the photos to the laboratory on Earth which makes them available to scientists to study. Members of the public, like astronomy hobbyists and enthusiasts, can also download and see the photos.

The main purpose of TESS is to find planets around other stars. Such planets, when they are orbiting around their stars, partially cover the stars and make them not as bright half of the time. This is called occultation.

TESS satellite is small, about 1.5 meters (4 feet 11 inches) in size, with the solar panel span of 3.7 meters (12 ft). It weighed 350 kilograms (770 pounds) at launch.

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Media

TESS - Southern Sky panorama(video (3:30); 18 July 2019)
TESS – first light(7 August 2018)
The 26 observation sectors of the sky planned for TESS
Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying TESS, launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in April 2018.
TESS spacecraft before launch
Animation of Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite's trajectory from 18 April 2018 to 18 December 2019 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite · Earth · Moon
Planned orbital maneuvers after release from Falcon 9's second stage. Horizontal axis schematically represents longitude relative to the Moon, vertical axis is altitude. A1M = Apogee 1 manoeuvre, P1M = Perigee 1 manoeuvre, etc., TCM = trajectory correction manoeuvre (optional), PAM = period adjustment manoeuvre.
Test image taken before the start of science operations. The image is centered on the constellation Centaurus. In the top right corner the edge of the Coalsack Nebula can be seen. The bright star in the bottom left is Beta Centauri.
Exoplanet LHS 3844 b (artist concept)