Black holes – Spaceflight Now

Coronavirus work stoppage likely to delay launch of NASA X-ray astronomy mission

July 2, 2020

A nearly three-month stoppage of on-site work due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus at NASA’s Marshall Space Fight Center in Alabama is expected to push back the launch of the IXPE X-ray astronomy satellite from May 2021 until some time later next year, a senior space agency official said.

Russia launches international X-ray astronomy mission

July 13, 2019

A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy.

Live coverage: Proton rocket lifts off with X-ray astronomy observatory

July 13, 2019

A Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy mission at 1230:57 GMT (8:30:57 a.m. EDT) Saturday.

Proton launch delayed to Saturday

July 12, 2019

Russian officials have delayed until Saturday the launch of a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy observatory, an ambitious mission jointly developed with Germany to probe dark energy.

Proton rocket and astronomy satellite back on the launch pad after battery replacement

July 9, 2019

Poised to loft a Russian-German X-ray astronomy observatory into space Friday, a Proton rocket returned to its launch pad Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after a three-week delay to replace a drained battery on the vehicle.

SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch X-ray telescope on reused rocket

July 8, 2019

NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2021, bypassing Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus rocket for the task.

Russia postpones launch of X-ray astronomy mission

June 21, 2019

Russian officials postponed the planned launch of a Proton rocket with an X-ray astronomy satellite Friday until no earlier than July 12 resolve a problem with an inadvertently drained battery on the vehicle.

Russia to launch science mission probing dark energy

June 20, 2019

A Russian-built satellite hosting an array of X-ray telescopes is awaiting launch Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to measure the mass and distance of colossal clusters of galaxies throughout the universe.

Proton rocket, Russian-German astronomy satellite arrive at launch pad

June 14, 2019

A rocket-transporting railroad car ferried a Proton rocket to its launch pad Friday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final checkouts and testing before the vehicle’s scheduled June 21 liftoff with the Russian-German Spektr-RG X-ray telescope.

Russia ships X-ray astronomy satellite to launch site

April 25, 2019

A Russian X-ray astronomy satellite with major contributions from German and U.S. scientists and instrument developers arrived Thursday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a launch in June aboard a Proton rocket.