XMM-Newton was launched on Ariane-5 from ESA’s Kourou space port, on 10 December 1999.

“ESA and its member states have invested a great deal in developing this mission and at the time expectations were very high,” notes ESA Director of Science, Prof. Carole Mundell. “And we were not disappointed: XMM-Newton has rewarded us handsomely with a treasure-trove of exceptional discoveries and continues to surprise us. Its launch marked a turning point for European leadership in X-ray astronomy and we continue to see new generations of scientists asking questions we could not have imagined when the mission was first proposed.”

“The spacecraft’s X-ray telescope is still the largest in terms of collecting area,” adds Norbert Schartel, ESA XMM-Newton Project Scientist. “Thanks to this, the mission can carry out uniquely sensitive observations of some of the most powerful and dramatic events in our Universe, advancing our understanding of the cosmos.”