The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) agreed to cooperate with the European Space Agency (ESA) on the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission: XRISM. Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of JAXA, and Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA, signed the agreement in Darmstadt, Germany, on June 14, 2019.

The XRISM project, kicked off in 2018, is the seventh X-ray astronomy satellite program of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA. It aims at the early recovery of the prime science objective “to solve outstanding astrophysical questions with high resolution X-ray spectroscopy” of ASTRO-H, whose operation was ceased in 2016.

JAXA and ESA agreed to apply the cooperation developed through ASTRO-H in XRISM. In addition to contributing to the development of one of XRISM’s most important instruments, the Soft X-ray Spectrometer, ESA will also support European scientists for their participation in the XRISM project.

XRISM is currently under development and is scheduled to be launched in FY2021.

For more information on XRISM, visit: XRISM Web Site.