Though Japan's ultra-sensitive X-ray observatory, Astro E, failed during launch, scientists in Europe have been planning the field's next-generation observatory for the next decade.
The proposed observatory, named Xeus, would expand scientists' already growing window into the early history of the universe, and could be the first satellite to be launched into orbit, then later upgraded on the International Space Station (ISS).
X-rays, emitted from high-energy objects like quasars and the fields around black holes, reach our solar system from the distant reaches of the universe, bringing information about major events, billions of years old.
"To study the very distant galaxies, the early universe, you need something like Xeus," said Dr. Martin Turner, the chair of Xeus' steering committee.
If Tuesday's Astro E launch had been successful, scientists would have added a third major tool to study X-rays, adding to the two currently orbiting observatories: the U.S.' Chandra X-ray telescope and Europe's X-ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM).
Xeus would be launched after the current X-ray duo goes off-line, say scientists involved with the project. The observatory, the plans go, would be launched in 10 to 12 years and become the most powerful X-ray telescope.
But that would only be the start. The observatory would be given a major upgrade on the as-of-yet incomplete ISS, quintupling the ability of the telescope to collect X-rays.
That construction project would solve one of space explorations' greatest conundrums: how to launch satellites too big for a single rocket.
All of this is highly speculative. The International Space Station, scheduled to be completed in 2004, faces major delays and uncertainties. Currently, the U.S. and Russia are bickering over a key component of the space station that Russia was originally planned to send up more than a year ago.
But if the plans for Xeus hold true, scientists will have a tool 250 times more sensitive than the XMM observatory, and a shot at seeing the critical events in the formation of the universe. These include: the first massive black holes, the first galaxy groups and the evolution of the heavy elements.
"It's just like going form something like a 4-meter telescope on the ground to the Keck" Observatory in Hawaii -- the world's largest optical and infrared telescopes, Turner said.
After a few years of service, the original form of Xeus would dock with the ISS, where several individually-launched mirrors would be waiting.
Robotic arms would piece together the mirrors, giving Xeus five-times-greater power to collect X-rays. Xeus would then be undocked and return to its scientific mission.
Current plans predict a cost of around $1.5 billion for the two-stage mission.
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