| Names | Athena | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission type | Space telescope | ||||||
| Operator | European Space Agency (ESA) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
| Mission duration | 4 years (planned) | ||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||
| Launch date | 2035 (planned)[1] | ||||||
| Rocket | Ariane 64 | ||||||
| Launch site | Centre Spatial Guyanais | ||||||
| Contractor | Arianespace | ||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||
| Reference system | L2 point (baseline) | ||||||
| Main telescope | |||||||
| Type | X-ray telescope | ||||||
| Focal length | 12 m (39 ft) | ||||||
| |||||||
Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics (Athena)[1][2] is an X-ray observatory mission selected by European Space Agency (ESA) within its Cosmic Vision program[3] to address the Hot and Energetic Universe scientific theme. Athena will operate in the energy range of 0.2–12 keV and will offer spectroscopic and imaging capabilities exceeding those of currently operating X-ray astronomy satellites – e.g. the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton – by at least one order of magnitude on several parameter spaces simultaneously.