TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
Falcon 9 Block 4
SpaceX
Mission
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
Type: Astrophysics
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.
Location
Space Launch Complex 40
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
865 rockets have launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA.
Rocket
Falcon 9 Block 4 – SpaceX
Family: Falcon
Length: 71 m
Diameter: 3.65 m
Launch Mass: 546 T
Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 22800 kg
The Falcon 9 Block 4 was manufactured by SpaceX with the first launch on 2015-12-22. Falcon 9 Block 4 has 12 successful launches and 0 failed launches with a total of 12 launches. The Full Thrust variants first stage includes all systems necessary for an operational re-use of stages while the second stage is operated as an expendable rocket stage.
Landing
The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed on the ASDS, OCISLY, stationed of the east coast.
Of Course I Still Love You – OCISLY
The second ASDS barge, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) services launches in the Pacific Ocean and was the site of the first landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage during CRS-8, the launch of a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship – ASDS
An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.
Agency
SpaceX
Type: Commercial
Abbreviation: SpX
Administration: CEO: Elon Musk
Founded: 2002
Launchers: Falcon
Spacecraft: Dragon
Country: USA
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
