![]() Artist's impression of the XMM-Newton spacecraft | |||||||||
Names | High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mission type | X-ray astronomy | ||||||||
Operator | European Space Agency | ||||||||
COSPAR ID | 1999-066A | ||||||||
SATCAT no. | 25989 | ||||||||
Website | http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/ http://xmm.esac.esa.int/ | ||||||||
Mission duration | Planned: 10 years[1] Elapsed: 24 years, 8 months, 15 days | ||||||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||||||
Manufacturer | Dornier Satellitensysteme, Carl Zeiss, Media Lario, Matra Marconi Space, BPD Difesa e Spazio, Fokker Space[2] | ||||||||
Launch mass | 3,764 kg (8,298 lb)[2] | ||||||||
Dry mass | 3,234 kg (7,130 lb) | ||||||||
Dimensions | Length: 10.8 m (35 ft)[2] Span: 16.16 m (53 ft)[2] | ||||||||
Power | 1,600 watts[2] | ||||||||
Start of mission | |||||||||
Launch date | 10 December 1999, 14:32[3] | UTC||||||||
Rocket | Ariane 5G No. 504[4] | ||||||||
Launch site | Guiana Space Centre ELA-3[2][4] | ||||||||
Contractor | Arianespace | ||||||||
Entered service | 1 July 2000[2] | ||||||||
End of mission | |||||||||
Deactivated | presumed end of 2026 or later[5] | ||||||||
Orbital parameters | |||||||||
Reference system | Geocentric | ||||||||
Semi-major axis | 65,648.3 km (40,792.0 mi) | ||||||||
Eccentricity | 0.816585 | ||||||||
Perigee altitude | 5,662.7 km (3,518.6 mi) | ||||||||
Apogee altitude | 112,877.6 km (70,138.9 mi) | ||||||||
Inclination | 67.1338 degrees | ||||||||
Period | 2789.9 minutes | ||||||||
Epoch | 4 February 2016, 01:06:30 UTC[6] | ||||||||
Main telescope | |||||||||
Type | 3 × Wolter type-1[2] | ||||||||
Diameter | Outer mirror: 70 cm (28 in)[2] Inner mirror: 30.6 cm (12 in)[2] | ||||||||
Focal length | 7.5 m (25 ft)[2] | ||||||||
Collecting area | 0.4425 m2 (5 sq ft) at 1.5 keV[2] 0.1740 m2 (2 sq ft) at 8 keV[2] | ||||||||
Wavelengths | 0.1–12 keV (12–0.1 nm)[2] | ||||||||
Resolution | 5 to 14 arcseconds[2] | ||||||||
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![]() ESA astrophysics insignia for XMM-Newton |
XMM-Newton, also known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, is an X-ray space observatory launched by the European Space Agency in December 1999 on an Ariane 5 rocket. It is the second cornerstone mission of ESA's Horizon 2000 programme. Named after physicist and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton, the spacecraft is tasked with investigating interstellar X-ray sources, performing narrow- and broad-range spectroscopy, and performing the first simultaneous imaging of objects in both X-ray and optical (visible and ultraviolet) wavelengths.[7]
Initially funded for two years, with a ten-year design life, the spacecraft remains in good health and has received repeated mission extensions, most recently in March 2023 and is scheduled to operate until the end of 2026.[5] ESA plans to succeed XMM-Newton with the Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA), the second large mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 plan, to be launched in 2035.[8] XMM-Newton is similar to NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, also launched in 1999.
As of May 2018, close to 5,600 papers have been published about either XMM-Newton or the scientific results it has returned.[9]
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