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Kepler Space Telescope

NASA’s Kepler space telescope was a planet-hunting observatory that measured tiny changes in stellar brightness to find exoplanets transiting their stars. Its original survey and extended K2 mission expanded knowledge of planetary systems and established that planets are common throughout the Milky Way.

Last updated
10 November 2026
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High (97%)
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Mission and method

Launched on 6 March 2009, Kepler was designed to survey stars in the Milky Way for planets outside the Solar System. It detected transits: small, repeated dips in a star’s measured brightness as an orbiting planet passed in front of it. The repeated observations enabled astronomers to identify candidate planets and investigate their sizes and orbits.

From Kepler to K2

After the loss of a second reaction wheel in 2013 impaired the spacecraft’s precise pointing, engineers developed the K2 extended mission. By using sunlight pressure to help control its orientation, Kepler could continue observations in campaigns along the ecliptic. K2 broadened the mission’s targets and science beyond the original field.

Discoveries and legacy

Kepler’s observations revealed a wide variety of planetary systems, including planets between Earth and Neptune in size and compact systems with several planets close to their stars. The mission concluded after its fuel was exhausted; NASA retired the spacecraft on 30 October 2018. Its public data continue to support research in exoplanets and other areas of astronomy.

Key facts

Launch date
6 March 2009
Detection technique
Transit photometry: measuring the small dimming of a star as a planet crosses in front of it
Extended mission
K2, conducted after a reaction-wheel failure limited the original pointing system
Retirement
30 October 2018, after the spacecraft ran out of fuel for further science operations

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References

  1. 1.
    Kepler / K2

    NASA Science · other · reliability: unverified · retrieved 10 November 2026

  2. 2.
    Kepler Exoplanet Mission

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · other · reliability: unverified · retrieved 10 November 2026

References are suggested by the research engine and may be incomplete. Unverified URLs are omitted rather than guessed.

Article history

  1. Version 110 November 2026 · EditorCreated by Zapia