Russia May Launch Two X-Ray Telescopes Into Orbit in 2032, 2038 - Space Research Institute
© Sputnik / Oleg Urusov
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian scientists plan to launch two more x-ray telescopes, the Spektr-RGN and the Spektr-RGM, in 2032 and 2038, Alexander Lutovinov, the deputy director of the Space Research Institute (IKI) at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said on Friday.
"We hope that Spektr-RG will become not 'the swan song' of [Russia's] space program but another huge stage of its development because we have some serious plans and ideas on how to move forward in X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. The Spektr-RGN project concerns establishing a pulsar navigation system. We have everything, given we start this year, to launch in 2031-2032," Lutovinov said at the anniversary of the Spektr-RG space observatory.
The launch of the Spektr-RGM project may become another important step in the development of X-ray astronomy, he also said, adding that this telescope will operate in the Compton range and explore the universe in nuclear lines.
"According to our estimates, we can make that one in 9–10 years, given we start in 2029," Lutovinov added.
The Spektr-RG space observatory project was launched on the Proton-M rocket in 2019. The observatory has two telescopes: the Pavlinsky ART-XC, developed by the IKI, and the German-made eROSITA, which was put on hold in February 2022.
