Space mission · NASA

Kepler Space Telescope

ExplorationCompletedLaunched 2009-03-07

Mission overview

Kepler was a NASA telescope that discovered thousands of exoplanets by watching for transits.

Outcome & discoveries

Showed that planets are common in the galaxy, finding thousands of confirmed exoplanets.

★Thousands of exoplanets, establishing that most stars host planets

Knowledge connections

Operated byNASA
Named afterJohannes Kepler
Part of programDiscovery Program
ObservesVisible light
Discovered2MASS J19383260+4603591 b
DiscoveredGJ 9827 b
DiscoveredGJ 9827 c
DiscoveredGJ 9827 d
DiscoveredHIP 41378 b
DiscoveredHIP 41378 c
DiscoveredHIP 41378 d
DiscoveredHIP 41378 e
DiscoveredHIP 41378 f
DiscoveredK2-18 b
DiscoveredKepler-100 b
DiscoveredKepler-100 c
DiscoveredKepler-100 d
DiscoveredKepler-11 b
DiscoveredKepler-11 c
DiscoveredKepler-11 d
DiscoveredKepler-11 e
DiscoveredKepler-11 f
DiscoveredKepler-11 g
DiscoveredKepler-122 b

Mission	Type	Agency	Launch	Status
MESSENGERMercury	Orbiter	NASA	2004-08-03	Completed
InSightMars	Lander	NASA	2018-05-05	Completed
DawnVesta and Ceres	Orbiter	NASA	2007-09-27	Completed
LucyJupiter Trojan asteroids	Multiple flyby	NASA	2021-10-16	Active
PsycheAsteroid 16 Psyche	Orbiter	NASA	2023-10-13	En route

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

Quick facts

Type: Space mission
Agency: NASA
Program: Discovery Program
Mission type: Space telescope
Destination: Earth-trailing solar orbit
Launch date: 2009-03-07
Status: Completed

Scientific citations

Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.

Mission pageKepler Space Telescope

NASA

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

NASA (n.d.). Kepler Space Telescope. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler/

@misc{cite:obs-space_telescope-kepler-space-telescope,
  title        = {Kepler Space Telescope},
  organization = {NASA},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler/},
  note         = {Official page for Kepler Space Telescope.}
}

Quality & authority

44%

Unreviewed

Completeness: Complete
Source coverage: Partial
Citation coverage: None
Relationship coverage: Complete
Review coverage: None
Image coverage: None

Curated from authoritative public sources. See source quality.

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Mission

Agency

Launch

MESSENGERMercury

NASA

2004-08-03

InSightMars

NASA

2018-05-05

DawnVesta and Ceres

NASA

2007-09-27

LucyJupiter Trojan asteroids

NASA

2021-10-16

PsycheAsteroid 16 Psyche

NASA

2023-10-13

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

NASA (n.d.). Kepler Space Telescope. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler/ @misc{cite:obs-space_telescope-kepler-space-telescope, title = {Kepler Space Telescope}, organization = {NASA}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler/}, note = {Official page for Kepler Space Telescope.} }

Kepler Space Telescope

Mission overview

Outcome & discoveries

Knowledge connections

Related missions

Sources

Kepler Space Telescope

Mission overview

Outcome & discoveries

Knowledge connections

Related missions

Sources