Science
IXPE
X-ray Polarimetry Observatory · NASA / ASI (Italy)
Right now
LiveIt moves every second. See exactly where it is — worked out from its orbit, on your own device — on the live 3D globe.
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X-ray polarimetry — measuring how X-rays from cosmic sources are oriented — was theorized as a powerful tool for 60 years but never successfully done from orbit until IXPE. Launched in 2021, NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer measures not just where X-rays come from but how they're polarized, revealing the geometry of magnetic fields around black holes, neutron stars, and supernova remnants. Its first results showed that the Crab Nebula's pulsar jet is far more ordered and structured than any model had predicted.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 337–343 mi (542–551 km)
- Inclination
- 0.2°
- One orbit
- 95.4 minutes15.1 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 49954
- Int’l designator
- 2021-121A
- Launched
- 2021
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 23 Sep 2026.
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