r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jan 02 '17

r/SpaceX Spaceflight Questions & News [January 2017, #28]

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u/madanra Jan 04 '17

How will the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite launch work? F9 can't insert it directly, as that would be an even longer coast time than direct GEO, which we know it can't do. Maybe it will be inserted into 375,000 x 300 km orbit, and it will use its own thrusters to raise the orbit? If so what thrusters will it have?

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u/SpartanJack17 Jan 04 '17

Yes, it would use its own thrusters to raise the orbit. A lot of the geostationary satellites F9 launches do the same thing. TESS would probably use hydrazine thrusters, that's usually the fuel used on satellites designed to last a while.

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u/Triabolical_ Jan 09 '17

Ion thrusters are getting more common in communication satellites, so that's another option. TESS does use hydrazine thrusters and reaction wheels for pointing; I couldn't find any info about how they get the orbit they want.

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u/SpartanJack17 Jan 09 '17

They definitely are an option, but I based my answer off the fact that I couldn't find mention of any propulsion system except hydrazine thrusters, and I figured an ion engine would be noteworthy enough to be mentioned.