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Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Mission

On Thursday, December 9 at 1:00 a.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to low Earth orbit from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center...

Watch NASA's IXPE Observatory Launch Into Space — Official Live Broadcast

We're sending a new pair of X-ray eyes into the universe! NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is our first satellite dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays. Polarized light is...

IXPE

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Astrophysics

Low Earth Orbit Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA Probability: 90%
B1061 - Just Read the Instructions

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory tasked with measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays. This data will help to learn more about objects that emit these X-rays, such as black holes and neutron stars.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 9, 2021, 6:41 a.m.

Launch success



Nosu • Dec. 4, 2021, 5:13 p.m.

T-0 confirmed by NASA



Nosu • Oct. 19, 2021, 6:16 a.m.

Moving forward to December 9 and adding launch time.


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1061

Status: Expended


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: November 16, 2020
Last Flight: October 7, 2024
Flights: 23
Landings Attempted: 22
Landings Successful: 22
Previous B1061 Flights

Landing Information

B1061 has landed on ASDS JRTI after its fifth flight.

Result: Successful Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship landing at Just Read the Instructions.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 599 Failures: 15 Pending: 119

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Related News

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NASA IXPE’s ‘Heartbeat Black Hole’ Measurements Challenge Current Theories

Written by Michael Allen An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), has challenged our understanding of what happens to matter in the direct vicinity of a black hole. With IXPE, astronomers…

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NASA’s IXPE Imager Reveals Mysteries of Rare Pulsar

An international team of astronomers has uncovered new evidence to explain how pulsing remnants of exploded stars interact with surrounding matter deep in the cosmos, using observations from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)…

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NASA’s IXPE Obtains First X-ray Polarization Measurement of Magnetar Outburst

What happens when the universe’s most magnetic object shines with the power of 1000 Suns in a matter of seconds? Thanks to NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), a mission in collaboration with ASI (Italian Space Agency), scient…

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NASA’s IXPE Reveals X-ray-Generating Particles in Black Hole Jets

The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments…

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NASA’s IXPE Details Shapes of Structures at Newly Discovered Black Hole

NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has helped astronomers better understand the shapes of structures essential to a black hole – specifically, the disk of material swirling around it, and the shifting plasma region called the…

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A


Falcon 9
Success
1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Starlink Group 15-11
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Kinetica 1
Success
9 hours, 16 minutes ago
9 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Share ride of 9 satellites to sun-synchronous orbit: * Satellite 813 (United Arab Emirates) * Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B-01/07C-01/07D-01 * Dongpo-15 …


Falcon 9
Success
18 hours, 3 minutes ago
NROL-77
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.


Long March 3B/E
Success
22 hours, 11 minutes ago
TJSW-22
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Long March 4B
Success
1 day, 9 hours ago
Yaogan 47
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

The Yaogan 47 is a Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purposes.


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 14 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-92
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 6A
Success
1 day, 15 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 15
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

A batch of Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group. …


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 19 hours ago
Starlink Group 11-15
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 8A
Success
4 days, 5 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 14
Commercial LC-1 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Kuaizhou-1A
Success
5 days, 4 hours ago
Traffic VDES A & B
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Two technology demonstration satellites for satellite transmissions of signals for the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES), a successor to the current Au…