SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts NASA's planet-hunting satellite into space on mission to discover new worlds

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SpaceX has launched a $337 million satellite out of the atmosphere on a mission to search for planets beyond our solar system.

NASA's “planet hunter” Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) could be seen blasting toward space on a Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday evening.

A live stream of the incredible launch showed the powerful rocket leaving a huge trail of fire and smoke as it tore through the sky shortly after 6.50pm (local time).

Elon Musk’s private rocket firm confirmed the launch on Twitter before giving running updates of the rocket’s journey out of the Earth’s atmosphere.

The countdown was halted a little more than two hours before the scheduled launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

We have lift off: The SpaceX rocket blasting out of the atmosphere
SpaceX/YouTube

The two-year, multi-million-dollar TESS mission is designed to build on the work of its predecessor, the Kepler space telescope.

The telescope discovered the bulk of some 3,700 exoplanets documented during the past 20 years and is running out of fuel.

An artist's illustration shows NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) that is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
AFP/Getty Images

It comes after the space firm successfully docked its Dragon cargo spacecraft packed with crew supplies and science experiments at the International Space Station earlier this month.

The spaceship arrived at the ISS two days after its launch from Florida, delivering around 5,800lbs of research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting lab.

NASA and SpaceX said the cargo pod was installed on the Harmony module of the space station at 9am EDT (1pm GMT).

Incredible footage streamed live during the event, SpaceX’s 14th mission to the research facility, showed the pod locking on to the space station.

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