WASHINGTON The first commercial launch of Ariane 5 will carry a science telescope satellite for the European Space Agency, Arianespace announced Saturday.
The satellite, called the X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM), will be one of the heaviest payloads carried by the large rocket, weighing nearly 4 metric tons at launch.
The flight, delayed from late spring due to readiness issues with its original set of two communications satellites, will take place in December.
The European Space Agency said that the XMM will allow astronomers to study various sources of cosmic X-rays in space rapidly as they are detected. Inside each of three telescopes mounted inside the satellite are 58 precisely formed mirrors designed to catch the largest amount of X-rays possible.
The precision-made mirrors, nested together in clusters, will allow for increased gathering power along with accurate focusing. Two of the three telescopes will include reflection grating spectrometers for analysis of the X-ray compositions.
The XMM will be Ariane 5s only passenger for the launch. The rocket will deposit the satellite in an elliptical orbit as high as 100,000 kilometers, clear of the Van Allen radiation belts.
Some 46 companies in 14 European nations along with one U.S. firm built the satellite. Dornier Satellite Systems is the crafts prime contractor.
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