SpaceX Secures NASA Launch Services Contract
December 18, 2014SpaceX has secured an $87m contract from the U.S. space agency, NASA, to provide launch services for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission.
(Read "SpaceX Innovates as It Aims for Mars" by clicking here.)
Under the contract, SpaceX will be responsible for spacecraft processing, payload integration, tracking, data and telemetry and other launch support requirements.
The TESS is scheduled for launch on a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in August 2017.
The TESS mission is designed to identify transiting exoplanets orbiting nearby bright stars for characterization by the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as other ground-based and space-based telescopes.
The TESS is built by Orbital Sciences based on its LEOStar-2 spacecraft platform.
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