Astrophysics

XMM-Newton

Active

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Image: ESA/XMM-Newton · CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Wikimedia Commons

Launched: 10 Dec 199914:32:07 UTC
Active for: 26 years 11 months
Destinations: High Earth orbit

ESA's X-ray observatory, whose three telescopes give it an unusually large collecting area for studying faint sources, from comets to distant galaxy clusters.

Milestones

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Spacecraft

XMM-Newton

Telescope

Active

Ten-metre-long satellite carrying three X-ray telescopes, each with 58 nested mirror shells, and an optical monitor.

Launch mass: 3,764 kg
Dry mass: 3,234 kg
Size: 10 m × 3 m, span 10 m
Power: Solar
Built by: Dornier
Designator: 1999-066A

Mission details from nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov.