Astronomy:List of X-ray space telescopes

Short description: None

X-ray telescopes are designed to observe the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-rays from outer space cannot be observed from the ground due to absorption by the atmosphere, and so x-ray telescopes must be launched into orbit. Their mirrors require a very low angle of reflection (typically 10 arc-minutes to 2 degrees).^[1] These are called glancing (or grazing) incidence mirrors. In 1952, Hans Wolter outlined three ways a telescope could be built using only this kind of mirror.^[2]^[3]

Space-borne observatories and instruments

This list contains space-borne observatories as well as X-ray instruments as part of a larger mission, both past, present and in the proposal stage.

Name	Launch	Notes
Ariel 5	1974
Ariel 6	1979
ASCA	1993
ATHENA	2031	Under development
AGILE	2007
Apollo Telescope Mount	1973	Part of Skylab, operated 1973-1974
Arcus	—	Proposal, not selected for launch in 2019
ALEXIS	1993
ANS	1974
Astrosat	2015
BeppoSAX	1996
BBXRT	1990
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory	1991
Chandra X-ray Observatory	1999
Constellation-X Observatory	—	2008 proposal, merged into the International X-ray Observatory proposal
Copernicus	1972
Cos-B	1975
DXS	1993
Einstein Observatory	1978	originally HEAO-2
EP-WXT	2022
eROSITA	2019
EXOSAT	1983
Fermi	2008
Ginga	1987
Granat	1989
Gravity and Extreme Magnetism	—	2012 proposal
Hakucho	1979
Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope	2017	(HXMT) also known as Insight (Chinese: 慧眼)
HEAO-1	1977
HEAO 3	1979
High Energy Transient Explorer	1996
Hinode	2006
Hinotori	1981	Originally ASTRO-A
Hitomi	2016	Originally ASTRO-H
IXPE	2021
INTEGRAL	2002
International X-ray Observatory	—	2012 proposal, now part of ATHENA
LOFT	—	Proposal
Lynx	2036	Study/proposal
Max Valier Sat	2017
MAXI	2009
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory	2004	Originally Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission^[4]
NICER	2017
NuSTAR	2012
OAO-1	1966
ORBIS	—	Under development
OSO 7	1971
OSO 8	1975
RHESSI	2002
ROSAT	1990
RXTE	1995
SAS-3	1975
SVOM	2024	Under development
Spektr-RG	2019
Suzaku	2005
Tenma	1983
Uhuru	1970
Vela	1963
XRISM	2023	Under development
XEUS	—	Proposal, merged into the International X-ray Observatory proposal, now part of the ATHENA proposal
XMM-Newton	1999
XPoSat	2023	Planned, under development
Yohkoh	1991

High-altitude atmospheric observatories and instruments

Sometimes X-Ray observations are made from a near-space environment on sounding rockets or high-altitude balloons.

Normal Incidence X-ray Telescope (series of sounding rocket payloads, flown in the late 1980s and 1990s)
Multi-spectral solar telescope array (MSSTA) (series of sounding rocket payloads, flown in the 1990s and early 2000s)
Polarised Gamma-ray Observer (PoGOLite) (balloon-borne astroparticle physics experiment, flown 2011-2013)

Gallery

Skylab S-54 instrument, an X-ray telescope
Chandra (AXAF) checks out a pulsar with its focusing X-ray optics
NuStar's lens for focusing X-rays
Wolter telescopes of Types I, II, and III

References

↑ Kulinder Pal Singh. "Techniques in X-ray Astronomy". http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/Volumes/10/06/0015-0023.pdf.
↑ "Glancing Incidence Mirror Systems as Imaging Optics for X-rays". Annalen der Physik 10 (1): 94. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450108. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445...94W.
↑ "A Generalized Schwarzschild Mirror System For Use at Glancing Incidence for X-ray Imaging". Annalen der Physik 10 (4): 286. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450410. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445..286W.
↑ "NASA Renames Swift Observatory in Honor of Late Principal Investigator". 10 January 2018. https://www.space.com/39349-swift-observatory-name-change.html.

External links

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[Pal_Singh,_2005-1] Kulinder Pal Singh. "Techniques in X-ray Astronomy". http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/Volumes/10/06/0015-0023.pdf.

[Wolter,_Glancing_Incidence_Mirror_Systems,_1952-2] "Glancing Incidence Mirror Systems as Imaging Optics for X-rays". Annalen der Physik 10 (1): 94. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450108. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445...94W.

[Wolter,_Generalized_Schwarzschild_Mirror_System,_1952-3] "A Generalized Schwarzschild Mirror System For Use at Glancing Incidence for X-ray Imaging". Annalen der Physik 10 (4): 286. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450410. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445..286W.

[4] "NASA Renames Swift Observatory in Honor of Late Principal Investigator". 10 January 2018. https://www.space.com/39349-swift-observatory-name-change.html.

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v t e Space observatories
Operating	AGILE (since 2007) AMS-02 (since 2011) Aoi (since 2018) ASTERIA (since 2017) Astrosat (since 2015) BRITE constellation (since 2013) CALET (since 2015) Chandra (AXAF) (since 1999) DAMPE (since 2015) Fermi (since 2008) Gaia (since 2013) HXMT (Insight) (since 2017) Hinode (Solar-B) (since 2006) HiRISE (since 2005) Hisaki (SPRINT-A) (since 2013) Hubble (since 1990) INTEGRAL (since 2002) IBEX (since 2008) IRIS (since 2013) ISS-CREAM (since 2017) MAXI (since 2009) Mikhailo Lomonosov (since 2016) Mini-EUSO (since 2019) NCLE (since 2018) NEOSSat (since 2013) NICER (since 2017) NuSTAR (since 2012) Odin (since 2001) SDO (since 2010) SOHO (since 1995) SOLAR (since 2008) Spektr-RG (since 2019) Spitzer (since 2003) STEREO (since 2006) Swift (since 2004) TESS (since 2018) WISE (since 2009) XMM-Newton (since 1999)
Planned	CHEOPS (2019) iWF-MAXI (2019) Astro-1 Telescope (2020) ILO-1 (2020) LUCI (2020) Nano-JASMINE (2020) ORBIS (2020) Solar Orbiter (SolO) (2020) IXPE (2021) James Webb (JWST) (2021) LORD (2021) SVOM (2021) XPoSat (2021) Euclid (2022) Space Solar Telescope (2022) XRISM (2022) Xuntian (2022) K-EUSO (2023) Solar-C (2023) SPHEREx (2023) Small-JASMINE (2024) Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission (2025+) Spektr-UV (2025) WFIRST (2025+) PLATO (2026) LiteBIRD (2027) ARIEL (2028) Spektr-M (2030+) ATHENA (2031) LISA (2034)
Proposed	Arcus AstroSat-2 EXCEDE Fresnel Imager FOCAL HabEx Hibari Hypertelescope JEM-EUSO LUVOIR ATLAST HDST Lynx Nautilus Deep Space Observatory New Worlds Mission NRO donation to NASA OST PhoENiX Solar-D SPICA THEIA THESEUS
Retired	Akari (Astro-F) (2006–2011) ALEXIS (1993–2005) Alouette 1 (1962–1972) Ariel 1 (1962, 1964) Ariel 2 (1964) Ariel 3 (1967–1969) Ariel 4 (1971–1972) Ariel 5 (1974–1980) Ariel 6 (1979–1982) ATM (1973–1974) ASCA (Astro-D) (1993–2000) Astro-1 (1990) BBXRT HUT Astro-2 (HUT) (1995) Astron (1983–1989) ANS (1974–1976) BeppoSAX (1996–2003) CHIPSat (2003–2008) Compton (CGRO) (1991–2000) CoRoT (2006–2013) Cos-B (1975–1982) COBE (1989–1993) DXS (1993) EPOCh (2008) EPOXI (2010) Explorer 11 (1961) EXOSAT (1983–1986) EUVE (1992–2001) FUSE (1999–2007) Kvant-1 (1987–2001) GALEX (2003–2013) Gamma (1990–1992) Ginga (Astro-C) (1987–1991) Granat (1989–1998) Hakucho (CORSA-b) (1979–1985) HALCA (MUSES-B) (1997–2005) HEAO-1 (1977–1979) Herschel (2009–2013) Hinotori (Astro-A) (1981–1991) HEAO-2 (Einstein Obs.) (1978–1982) HEAO-3 (1979–1981) HETE-2 (2000–2008) Hipparcos (1989–1993) IUE (1978–1996) IRAS (1983) IRTS (1995–1996) ISO (1996–1998) IXAE (1996–2004) Kepler (2009–2018) Kristall (1990–2001) LEGRI (1997–2002) LISA Pathfinder (2015–2017) MOST (2003–2019) MSX (1996–1997) OAO-2 (1968–1973) OAO-3 (Copernicus) (1972–1981) Orbiting Solar Observatory OSO 1 OSO 2/OSO B OSO 3 OSO 4 OSO 5 OSO 6 OSO 7 OSO 8 Orion 1 (1971) Orion 2 (1973) PAMELA (2006–2016) PicSat (2018) Planck (2009–2013) RELIKT-1 (1983–1984) R/HESSI (2002–2018) ROSAT (1990–1999) RXTE (1995–2012) SAMPEX (1992–2004) SAS-B (1972–1973) SAS-C (1975–1979) Solwind (1979–1985) Spektr-R (2011–2019) Suzaku (Astro-EII) (2005–2015) Taiyo (SRATS) (1975–1980) Tenma (Astro-B) (1983–1985) Uhuru (1970–1973) Vanguard 3 (1959) WMAP (2001–2010) Yokoh (Solar-A) (1991–2001)
Hibernating (Mission completed)	SWAS (1998–2005) TRACE (1998–2010)
Lost	OAO-1 (1966) OAO-B (1970) CORSA (1976) OSO C (1965) ABRIXAS (1999) HETE-1 (1996) WIRE (1999) Astro-E (2000) Tsubame (2014–2015) Hitomi (Astro-H) (2016)
Cancelled	AOSO Astro-G Constellation-X Darwin Destiny EChO Eddington FAME FINESSE GEMS HOP IXO JDEM LOFT OSO J OSO K Sentinel SIM & SIMlite SNAP SPOrt TAUVEX TPF XEUS XIPE
See also	Great Observatories program List of space telescopes List of proposed space observatories List of X-ray space telescopes
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Astronomy:List of X-ray space telescopes

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