Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, illustration (C038/5577) Tapestry

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) with an exoplanet, illustration. TESS is NASA's next step in the search for planets outside the solar system, also known as exoplanets. It is shown here with a lava planet (red) orbiting its host star, an example of the type of planets that may be detected. TESS launched on a Falcon 9 rocket on 18 April 2018, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA. It was placed in a highly elliptical lunar resonant orbit (P/2) to carry out its all-sky survey. Illustration published in September 2017.