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Russia's Spektr-RG space observatory 1.6mln km away from Earth — Roscosmos

Spektr-RG is a Russian-German high-energy astrophysics space observatory with the mission is to create a map of the visible Universe in the x-ray band showing all major galaxy clusters

Spektr-R telescope Lavochkin research and production association

Spektr-R telescope

© Lavochkin research and production association

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Russia’s space observatory Spektr-RG, which was launched in July to observe the universe at X-ray wavelengths, has moved away from Earth to a distance of 1.6 million kilometers, Dmitry Rogozin, chief of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos, said on Sunday.

"By now, the Russia space observatory Spektr-RG is at a distance of 1.614 million kilometers away from Earth," he wrote on his Twitter account.

A source in the Russian space industry told TASS earlier the observatory’s orbit would not be adjusted. The adjustment was originally planned for August 21. According to the source, the next orbit adjusting maneuver will be carried out on October 21.

Spektr-RG is a Russian-German high-energy astrophysics space observatory. Its mission is to create a map of the visible Universe in the x-ray band showing all major galaxy clusters. It is heading for the L2 Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system. It is expected to reach its destination in October.

The observatory carries two unique x-ray telescopes: ART-XC (Russia) and eROSITA (Germany). Both telescopes are installed on Russia’s platform Navigator configured especially for the project’s tasks.

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