NASA on December 9, 2021 launched a new mission named Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- IXPE observatory is a joint effort of NASA and the Italian Space Agency. The IXPE mission will study the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe – supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other high-energy objects.
- The mission’s primary length is two years and the observatory will be at 600 kilometers altitude, orbiting around Earth’s equator.
- IXPE is expected to study about 40 celestial objects in its first year in space.
- The Mission carries three state-of-the-art space telescopes. Each of the three identical telescopes hosts one light-weight X-ray mirror and one detector unit. These will help observe polarized X-rays from neutron stars and supermassive black hole.
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