Exoplanet Missions Present

TESS and Kepler

Using the transit method of exoplanet detection, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is the current gold standard in the search for alien worlds. TESS, launched in 2018, has identified 4,500 potential exoplanets, of which over 150 have been confirmed.

In terms of sheer volume of confirmed exoplanet detections, the Kepler Space Telescope is going to be hard to beat. After its launch in 2009, Kepler spotted at least 4,763 exoplanets, of which 2,703 have been confirmed.