Space telescope, founded 2023
XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission)
XRISM is a JAXA-led X-ray observatory with NASA and ESA. In August 2026 JAXA extended its operations by about 3.5 years, through March 2030.
- Location
- Low Earth orbit
- Focus
- Black holes, Galaxies, Stars, Dark matter, Telescopes and missions
In space
Low Earth orbit
XRISM, the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, is a Japanese space observatory led by JAXA with NASA and ESA. It launched on September 6, 2023 (UTC), on an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima. XRISM was built to recover the science lost when Japan’s Hitomi observatory broke up weeks after its 2016 launch, chiefly high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy.
Flagship instruments
- Resolve: an X-ray microcalorimeter from NASA Goddard that measures the energy of individual X-ray photons very precisely.
- Xtend: an X-ray CCD camera.
Recent results
XRISM’s main 2025-2026 developments in our sources are operational. Resolve’s protective gate valve has stayed closed since an opening attempt in September 2025, so science continues with Resolve’s band shifted from 0.3-12 keV to 1.7-12 keV. On August 26, 2026, JAXA extended operations by about 3.5 years, through March 2030. The field it serves dates to the 1962 discovery of the first cosmic X-ray source.
What to watch, 2026-2030
- Through March 2030: extended operations.
- Another attempt to open the gate valve is under discussion; success would restore Resolve’s low-energy band.
Why scientists are converging here
X-ray astronomy is in an uneven moment. NASA’s Chandra survives at reduced cost, decided one budget year at a time, while the eROSITA survey led by MPE has catalogued nearly 2 million X-ray sources. XRISM’s extension gives the community a high-resolution spectrometer with a known horizon to 2030, for gas around black holes, in galaxies and in exploded stars.
