Image: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

Ariane 5 G | XMM-Newton

Name: Ariane 5 G | XMM-Newton
Start: 1999-12-10T14:32:07.000Z
Location: Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

European Space Agency · Ariane 5 G · Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

European Space Agency's 4th launch · 1st this year · humanity's 4,359th orbital launch attempt

T− --:--:--December 10, 1999 · 14:32 UTCAdd to calendar

Success

The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).

Window: Dec 10, 14:32 – Dec 10, 14:32 UTC

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XMM-Newton

An X-Ray space observatory launches by the ESA.

Astrophysics · High Earth Orbit (HEO)

Booster

No booster details available.

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News

ESA·Jul 1, 2026

XMM-Newton helps revise distance to outer spiral arms

The European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray space telescopes have spotted the aftermath of three bright explosions echoing through the outer spiral arms of our galaxy, the Milky Way. By measuring the distance to these echoes, they find the outer arms to be up to 10% further away than we thought.

Pad — Ariane Launch Area 3

Local pad time: Dec 10, 11:32 AM GMT-3

118 launches from this pad · 334 from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

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