Spektr-RG
Spektr-RG — a Russian-German X-ray observatory orbiting the Sun–Earth L2 point, about 1.5 million km from Earth (launched 13 July 2019). From December 2019 its two telescopes, Germany's eROSITA and Russia's ART-XC, scanned the whole sky every six months. eROSITA has been in safe mode since 26 February 2022, when Germany froze cooperation with Russia after four of eight planned surveys; ART-XC has continued. (Its position is shown representatively.)
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- IKI / Lavochkin (Russia) and MPE (Germany)
- Launched
- July 13, 2019
- Status
- Active
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.996 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 1,461,182 km
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.276 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Spektr-RG (Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma, or SRG) is an X-ray observatory built by Russia and Germany. It was launched on 13 July 2019 on a Proton-M rocket from Baikonur, to a halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L2 point, about 1.5 million km from Earth. It carries two X-ray telescopes: eROSITA, built by Germany's Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, and ART-XC, built in Russia and now named after Mikhail Pavlinsky. From December 2019 the spacecraft spun slowly to scan the whole sky every six months; eight surveys were planned over four years. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany froze its cooperation with Russia, and on 26 February 2022 eROSITA was put into safe mode, having completed four of the eight surveys. The German half of the first survey's data was published in January 2024. ART-XC has kept observing.
- 2019Spektr-RG launches on a Proton-M rocketLaunch
From Baikonur, bound for the Sun–Earth L2 point.
- 2022eROSITA put into safe modeMilestone
Germany freezes cooperation with Russia after four of eight planned surveys.
- 2024First eROSITA data releasedMilestone
The German half of the sky from the first survey.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image