China’s First X-ray Space Telescope Put into Service after In-orbit Tests

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (China Space News) — China’s first X-ray astronomical satellite, launched in June last year, is put into service for scientific research on Tuesday after finishing in-orbit tests.

The 2.5-tonne Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed Insight, has carried out in-orbit tests, including scanning and pointing observation, and gamma-ray burst tests, proving the qualified function and ability of the HXMT.

The HXMT also contributed to the detection of gravitational waves coming from the merger of two binary neutron stars in October 2017.

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