TESS launch today!

News article posted on by Tom Barclay

UPDATE - Now targeting April 18 for launch.

TESS will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Monday April 16 at 6:32 pm from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Airforce Station! The TESS spacecraft has been fueled and encapsulated in the rocket fairing and the Falcon 9 that will carry TESS to orbit has undergone a successful static fire. The fairing with TESS inside has been moved to the hangar at pad 40 to be mounted to the rocket. The team has passed the Launch Readiness Review and the are go for launch. In just hours away TESS will begin a 2 year mission to find planets orbiting the closest and brightest stars!

For more information check out nasa.gov/tess for the latest updates, including links to watch the launch live on Monday, or follow on social media @NASAGoddard and at @NASA_TESS.