![[AUTO] Falcon 9 Block 5 | X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) - image](/media?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthespacedevs-prod.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2Ffalcon2520925_image_20211208191703.jpeg&w=1600)
SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)
Launched
December 9, 2021
Summary
IXPE launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA on December 9, 2021. It was SpaceX's 149th launch, 32nd this year and humanity's 6,166th orbital launch attempt. It was the 75th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight and the 28th this year. Booster B1061 flew for the 5th time and landed at Just Read the Instructions. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). It reached a 570 × 624 km orbit inclined 0.2°. One object from this launch is catalogued.
- Watch
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 Block 5 · SpaceX
- Booster
- B1061 · flight 5 · Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship at Just Read the Instructions · landed156/157 landed here · 101 days after its previous flight, Dragon CRS-2 SpX-23 · 653 km downrange
- Mission
- Astrophysics · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Milestone
- 75th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight · 28th this yearSpaceX's 149th launch32nd this yearhumanity's 6,166th orbital launch attempt129th orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
IXPE · NORAD 49954 · 2021-121 · Space-Track
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2021-121A
- Epoch
- 2021-12-09 08:55:03 UTC
- Mean motion
- 14.92479893 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.0038824
- Inclination
- 0.2368°
- Ascending node
- 339.6144°
- Arg. of perigee
- 142.273°
- Mean anomaly
- 249.2216°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 1
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LEO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile. Booster return drawn from padside's representative arc.
Catalogued objects
1 catalogued: 1 payload; 1 still in orbit
- IXPE · NORAD 49954 · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory tasked with measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays. This data will help to learn more about objects that emit these X-rays, such as black holes and neutron stars.
News
NASA’s IXPE Studies MagnetarScientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, shown in this Aug. 5, 2026, artist’s concept, between March and April 2025. In doing so, they may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly […]
NASA’s IXPE May Have Proven 90-Year-Old TheoryA first of its kind measurement of a magnetar may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed. The results published Wednesday in Nature. Fast facts Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E […]
NASA’s Chandra and IXPE Study Pulsar in Lighthouse NebulaThis composite image, released on July 9, 2026, shows the region around a pulsar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field that spins incredibly fast – within the Lighthouse nebula. The image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, X-rays from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) in blue, and […]
NASA Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of ‘Lighthouse’ PulsarFor the first time, scientists have used NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) to directly measure the magnetic fields of PSR J1101−6101, a pulsar located within what is often referred to as the Lighthouse Nebula. The results provide new insight into the structure of some of the most extreme objects in the cosmos, as NASA […]
Pad
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
136th launch from Launch Complex 39A, 11th this year · 193rd from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
224 launches from this pad · 283 from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
28 days after the previous launch from this pad
Updates
Questions
When did IXPE launch?
IXPE launched on December 9, 2021. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch IXPE?
Coverage: Falcon 9 IXPE; Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Mission; Watch NASA's IXPE Observatory Launch Into Space — Official Live Broadcast. Watch the replay
What rocket launched IXPE?
Falcon 9 Block 5, flown by SpaceX. Falcon 9 Block 5 spec sheet
Where did IXPE launch from?
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA.
Did the booster land?
Booster B1061 flew for the 5th time and landed at Just Read the Instructions.
What orbit did IXPE reach?
It reached a 570 × 624 km orbit inclined 0.2°.
How many satellites did IXPE launch?
1 payload from this launch is catalogued, still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).