NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a “planet-hunter” that will scan 85 percent of the sky to find planets that are on the outskirts of the solar system, known as exoplanets. 

Also, watch live footage of the lift off aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. 

The spacecraft is said to be just a little smaller than a subcompact car, according to GeekWire, and will move into an Earth orbit that ranges in altitude from 63,000 to 200,000 miles. TESS will then be able to keep tabs on the brightest stars in the sky to look for changes in brightness when a planet crosses over a star’s disk.