TESS
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is an active MIT-led all-sky observatory searching bright nearby stars for transiting planets while also monitoring variable stars, supernovae, asteroids, and other changing objects.
Identity
- Aliases
- Transiting Exoplanet Survey SatelliteTESS MissionTESS Extended Mission
- Name
- TESS
- Slug
- tess
- Status
- active
Details
- Description
- NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is an active MIT-led all-sky observatory searching bright nearby stars for transiting planets while also monitoring variable stars, supernovae, asteroids, and other changing objects.
- Launch Site Id
- qh78t509zgnf9wt4rdg4rczzrx85j5pb
- Outcome
- Active and successful to date. TESS completed its two-year prime survey, continued through successive extended missions, and by September 2025 had identified nearly 6,000 confirmed or candidate exoplanets. Following a brief January 2026 safe mode, it returned to normal science observations on January 18, 2026.
- Program
- NASA Explorers Program (MIDEX)
- Start Date
- 2018-04-18
- Vehicle Family Ids
- nd7gkzewwbqadwhzcyv5ggk4458ahdz6nd7q48namftr66xna5s0xvd5yd8apx6h
- Vehicle Id
- nh7rjmm96w1gb6jazeg2ye7np18ap94g
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/TESS/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- 7/17/2026, 1:02:09 AM
- Updated Time
- 7/17/2026, 1:02:09 AM
Other
- Affiliations
- Organization Id
- vh76vnx3yy1vy23j7zc3wk80wx7nhx5f
- Role
- Lead agency and Explorers Program sponsor
- Organization Id
- vn71xd72jhy95w82zbxq5hzb818aqj49
- Role
- Principal-investigator institution, mission lead and operator, camera/electronics development, payload operations, and Science Operations Center
- Organization Id
- vn71m3a9t7bhfbpr44wmc59zwh8aqcy2
- Role
- Mission management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, flight dynamics, and Guest Investigator program
- Organization Id
- jd721nj3rrbc9hy6hqxftvxatn7kpgtd
- Role
- Orbital ATK spacecraft provider, observatory integration and testing, and Mission Operations Center
- Organization Id
- vn7eat3v314fcqy2anbd7p6a618aqddv
- Role
- Science Processing Operations Center and science-data processing pipeline
- Organization Id
- vn7d1tarzcznj89nd3qq8n9wrs8apgmk
- Role
- TESS Science Office and follow-up-program leadership
- Organization Id
- vn74x3fdyyqs9vpfmgzr2mmsg97nytez
- Role
- MAST science-data archive administration
- Organization Id
- jd7ce2bqftfeecsmsam5yhj86d7kqbmw
- Role
- Falcon 9 launch vehicle provider