Russia Launches Spektr-RG

Context: Spektr-RG is a Russian–German high-energy astrophysics space observatory launched recently. It follows on from the Spektr-R satellite telescope launched in 2011.

 About Spektr- RG:

The Spektrum-Röntgen-Gamma mission, also known as Spektr-RG, is a joint project between the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and the German space agency, DLR. 

Position: Spektr-RG will be placed in a stable orbit in space called a Lagrange point (specifically, L2), where the gravitational forces of two large objects — in this case, the sun and the Earth — balance each other out.

This location will allow Spektr-RG to perform its observations while using a minimal amount of fuel.

Objectives: The spacecraft is expected to detect 100,000 galaxy clusters, 3 million supermassive black holes, tens of thousands of star-forming galaxies, the presence of plasma (superheated gas) and many more types of objects.

The observatory includes two X-ray mirror telescopes, called ART-XC and eROSITA.

A key goal of Spektr-RG will be to investigate the mysterious cosmic components referred to as “dark matter” and “dark energy”.