The Kepler telescope has discovered over 2,600 planets from outside our solar system and no longer has fuel for future science operations.
It means that it can no longer beam its data home to earth, after nearly a decade in orbit.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington said: “As NASA’s first planet-hunting mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all our expectations and paved the way for our exploration and search for life in the solar system and beyond.
“Not only did it show us how many planets could be out there, it sparked an entirely new and robust field of research that has taken the science community by storm. Its discoveries have shed a new light on our place in the universe, and illuminated the tantalising possibilities among the stars.”
The news didn’t come as a surprise.
Space.com reported that mission managers had put the spacecraft to sleep multiple times in order to extend its operational life.
It officially ran out of fuel two weeks ago.
The Keplet space telescope was launched in 2009 on a $600 million (£470 million) project to see how many earth-like planets there are throughout the milky way.
It later managed to complete brightness measurements on over half a million stars.
Jessie Dotson, Kepler’s project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Centre said: “We know the spacecraft’s retirement isn’t the end of Kepler’s discoveries. I’m excited about the diverse discoveries that are yet to come from our date and how future missions will build upon Kepler’s results.”
